1

Juwan Gary

EN 101

Mr. Owen Neace

4 December 2019

Final Reflection Essay

Over the course of this semester, I enjoyed taking this course because I learned how to

craft different types of essays and my writing greatly improved with practice. I also feel like I

accomplished using my two habits of mind to succeed in this class, my other classes, and on my

basketball team. I am a stronger writer and thinker, and I have better school habits after writing

these three essays.

I focus on two habits of minds: persistence and open mindedness. My habits of mind

were things that could help me get through my freshman year of college and the rest of my

journey at The University of Alabama. The way I see it, keeping an open mind throughout the

semester was really was not that difficult to figure out once I started meeting new people from

classes, sports, and extracurricular activities. I also wanted to keep an open mind about my

course content because I knew the subjects were difficult and I might not always agree with what

I am learning about. Keeping an open mind is also important as a member of the basketball team

because I have to consider and respect my teammates opinions. I also try to be persistence in my

coursework and in basketball because things might not always go the way I want them to but I

have to be persistence to succeed in both of these areas. Over the course of this semester, I have

tried to be persistence in getting my school work done and completing my basketball goals. I

also try to keep an open mind when completing my coursework and basketball goals because this
 2

motivated me to get things done. I felt like I was successful in both of these areas and I will

continue to be open minded and persistent moving forward.

My writing process had both ups and downs this semester. There were some essays that

was easy to write, such as the intro letter and memoir, and there were some essays that were

more difficult to write, such as the profile and reflections essays. Though I had a difficult time

writing these papers, I persisted and completed my work. My writing techniques complicated.

First, I outline my ideas because this helps me see my mistakes and write down my thoughts,

which can be confusing sometimes. Second, I take the information out of my outline and write

the first draft of my essays, which I then leave for a day or two. I come back to my draft essays

refocused and able to fix my mistakes. Third, I correct my mistakes on my paper and write a

final draft, which I then show to my friends and my tutor for final reviews. I feel that this process

works for me because I have time to fix my mistakes over a long period of time and I can see

that my writing has improved after each essay. Crafting these essays has always been difficult for

me because it is always difficult to put my ideas on paper and I am not used to writing personal

reflections. Crafting these essays has taught me to be personal with my writing. But, the profile

essay was the most difficult for me to write because I had to learn how to interview someone and

research information for my topic.

There is one main connection in all three of my essays: they all are personal reflections of

my life. My intro letter discuss who I am and what my goals are at this university. The memoir

discussed my first tattoo and the lessons I learned from getting this tattoo so young. I spoke

about why I regretted making this decision in hopes to help other readers in similar situations.

My profile essay spoke about the impact on my life that coach Pettway had on me. He was an
 3

important figure that made me the person I am today. I hope that readers see the connection

among these three essays as a way of understanding of who I am. Each of these essays were

extremely difficult for me to write because they were very personal to me but I wanted to share

my stories to my classmates. Overall in this class I have learned that writing is what you feel and

not what you read or see. I enjoyed writing these creative essays to become a stronger writer and

someone that can be personal in my writing.