Of the five blogs I have written so far, it’s hard to choose a singular blog I have enjoyed writing the most. If I were to choose, it would be from my last three blogs—adaptability using the thermostat as an analogy, five things I learned from Reframe Your Brain, and my childhood memories. The easiest one to write of these three was the blog on my childhood memories, where I had included a bit of melancholy in the essay. I found myself able to type my exact thoughts into the blog autonomously yet cohesively, not stopping to contemplate word choice or stylistic choices. It came naturally to me as I wrote this, and after rereading this blog, I concluded that I must have been thinking about my past and these lost memories a lot lately; unfortunately, I never had the chance to address it, so I found the blog as an opportunity to release my thoughts. Although it didn’t take me much time to write it, this blog has been one of the most insightful reflections I have written about myself.
For adaptability, I felt that I had written the essay almost in a position of expertise, sharing my experience (such as sporting events and the thermostat in my house) and how I believed adaptability is the most important aspect of learning at a young age. Reframe Your Brain was a bit different and a bit more personal to me. This blog was fun to write as I constantly quoted the book, but was also serious as these lessons are applicable to improve anyone’s life. I seriously felt—and I still do—that this book can help anyone who wishes to achieve success and a fulfilling life with a reduced side effect of stress and negative energy. It also has been a while since I picked up a book on my own accord and dug through it, and Reframe Your Brain was one of the best options I could’ve gone with.
I feel that I improved as a writer over the semester as I have become a better reader as well. In As I Lay Dying and Sethe, considering multiple perspectives at the same time about the same narrative was crucial to understanding the book and its purpose in its entirety. After viewing each perspective, I was able to draw conclusions about the meaning of the text as a reader, and then translate my thoughts and conclusions in a more concise and comprehensive manner in an essay. In the past, I would type in periods, where I had writer’s block every few sentences or so when constructing an essay, but I felt that as the semester progressed, I was able to draw evidence from the text and connect it to my argument much more effectively. The Hexagonal activity from the second part of Sethe was one of my favorite essays not only because I received a higher grade, but also because I was able to finish it within a class period without getting stuck on ideas and falling off on a tangent mid-paragraph.
I have enjoyed reading other people’s blogs this semester, and I have learned a lot through them. It was interesting to see other people express their views in a very personal matter, and my differences and similarities in them. I almost forget how others can have vastly different opinions on one topic, yet have the same opinion on another. As I read these blogs, I learned to consider their perspectives as much as I consider my own perspectives. I found Claire’s blog about preparing for college very insightful and helpful, while I found Luke’s blog on driving slowly relatable. I realized that there will always be personal bias in any form of writing, but to ignore such biases as they can distract from the main idea of the text. This realization helped me understand other people’s perspectives, and rather than ignoring them, accepting the differences between each other is the best course of action.
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