Looking back through this school term, more specifically, my time in English 101. I would say I’ve displayed habits such as thinking flexibly, metacognition, responding with wonderment and awe, creating, imagining, and innovating, remaining open to continuous learning, and persisting. Additionally, some habits I feel I must work on would be managing impulsivity, thinking interdependently, and finding humor.
Thinking flexibly, I’m always willing to look at both sides of a certain topic. I’ve used this habit heavily when researching and drafting my research topic essay. My topic was, “Divorce and its effect on children” and upon starting it I was very biased and sided with the statement that if it isn’t working out between two parents, they should get a divorce. However, after I’ve finished the essay and really soaked in all the research offered to me by both sides, I’d have to say I’m more on the side of those saying you shouldn’t get a divorce. Don’t get me wrong, I am entirely aware that some relationships are abusive and harmful to those in them, my own parents’ marriage wasn’t a very healthy one, hence why I was more biased towards parents splitting up. It may have been the best thing for our family given the circumstances, but every family is structured differently, and every child reacts differently towards life altering events.
Metacognition, another way of putting it, thinking about your thinking, know your knowing! To put a clear definition on it, being aware of your own thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions and their effects on others. I’ve applied this habit not only within my writings, but in my day-to-day life. I’m constantly aware of my thoughts, whether I want to be or not, and being aware of one’s feelings and actions should be common sense, especially when it’s a circumstance in which they can harm others.
I’ve expressed before how I tend to write more melancholic, I’m aware of that fact and most of the time, my intention is to invoke sad and bitter emotions from the reader.
Responding with wonderment and awe, a self-explanatory sentiment. While my thoughts on life are more along the lines of depressing and pessimistic, I would have to be a real idiot to be blind to the intriguing mysteries and unrelenting beauty of this world we all inhabit. The Anthropocene unit of ENG 101 opened my eyes further to this. That might be confusing, due to the epitome of the Anthropocene being the harsh scars we as humans have left on this planet, but as they say beauty is pain and there’s beauty in everything. To watch a star, die and burnout would be despairing yes, but you can’t deny it wouldn’t be a spectacle for the ages.
To create, to imagine, and to innovate. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I feel my creativity was through the roof in my writings this year. I’ve innovated plenty of times, to want to truly understand something, be it a subject or sentence, you must perceive it in a way no one else has. Not an easy task at all, but I do believe this to be true. You apply this to every aspect of your writings, and it will improve not only that, but your sense of perception in life as well.
Remaining open to continuous learning, another habit that needs no explaining. One is either willing to open their mind to more information, or they choose to not expand their learnings. I am always open to learning more, always, and forever. We learned throughout this unit the proper ways to reference and cite articles, books, journal entries, and more. While I’m not the biggest fan of citations, I’d much rather free write and go off my own knowledge, I understand the importance of getting other sources, especially if It’s a subject I’m not well-versed in. So, though I wasn’t a fan of learning certain things, I’m still grateful to have learned them and will use them if necessary for the future.
Persisting, something I showed this year and yet still struggled with. This habit goes both ways for me, I feel I persisted greatly on it, but can of course still improve. I would give into temptations, impulsivities, and distractions more often than I would have liked, and while I was able to get assignments done, they weren’t always on time. Still, even if it were past the due date, I would persist and get done what I needed to get done.
I’ve touched a bit on it already when I talked about persisting, but managing impulsivity was, and still is, a habit I struggle to follow through with. I’ve certainly been better about it this year, declining distractions and putting my phone out of arms reach, yet it still manages to get the better of me. What’s helped me loads for this is that I always tell myself how free and less pressured I’d feel if I finish what I’ve got to finish before I indulge in any distractions.
Thinking interpedently, an easier habit for some to display, but for me it’s quite difficult. I was still able to accurately revise and go over others’ papers if needed but would usually like to be done with it as soon as possible. Since writing is one of my outlets, they mean a lot to me sentimentally and I forget not everybody is wired that way. So, when I go over other people’s papers, I never really give them any criticisms which when thought about is ruder than were you to criticize their paper in the first place. It’s a silly thing to overthink I know, I’m just the kind of person who would rather receive criticism and give praise rather than receive it.
Finding humor, and yes, I do see the humor in the fact that this is a habit I struggle with. This habit of needed improvement isn’t as much as a serious one as the others but is still helpful to keep in mind. Laughter is the best medicine, a saying we should all be familiar with, is something I think more people should have in mind. It wouldn’t hurt me to laugh a little, to stray from the somber roads my writing tends to venture and write something more lighthearted. Your writings reflect back onto you, and if all you're writing are sad stories or articles, you yourself are going to feel despaired and upset.
To conclude on this reflection, my habits of choice are excellent in helping me achieve tasks at hand, and the habits I must work on are great areas for improving on. You can never not improve upon yourself, especially if it can be beneficial for your work or education.
Thinking flexibly, I’m always willing to look at both sides of a certain topic. I’ve used this habit heavily when researching and drafting my research topic essay. My topic was, “Divorce and its effect on children” and upon starting it I was very biased and sided with the statement that if it isn’t working out between two parents, they should get a divorce. However, after I’ve finished the essay and really soaked in all the research offered to me by both sides, I’d have to say I’m more on the side of those saying you shouldn’t get a divorce. Don’t get me wrong, I am entirely aware that some relationships are abusive and harmful to those in them, my own parents’ marriage wasn’t a very healthy one, hence why I was more biased towards parents splitting up. It may have been the best thing for our family given the circumstances, but every family is structured differently, and every child reacts differently towards life altering events.
Metacognition, another way of putting it, thinking about your thinking, know your knowing! To put a clear definition on it, being aware of your own thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions and their effects on others. I’ve applied this habit not only within my writings, but in my day-to-day life. I’m constantly aware of my thoughts, whether I want to be or not, and being aware of one’s feelings and actions should be common sense, especially when it’s a circumstance in which they can harm others.
I’ve expressed before how I tend to write more melancholic, I’m aware of that fact and most of the time, my intention is to invoke sad and bitter emotions from the reader.
Responding with wonderment and awe, a self-explanatory sentiment. While my thoughts on life are more along the lines of depressing and pessimistic, I would have to be a real idiot to be blind to the intriguing mysteries and unrelenting beauty of this world we all inhabit. The Anthropocene unit of ENG 101 opened my eyes further to this. That might be confusing, due to the epitome of the Anthropocene being the harsh scars we as humans have left on this planet, but as they say beauty is pain and there’s beauty in everything. To watch a star, die and burnout would be despairing yes, but you can’t deny it wouldn’t be a spectacle for the ages.
To create, to imagine, and to innovate. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I feel my creativity was through the roof in my writings this year. I’ve innovated plenty of times, to want to truly understand something, be it a subject or sentence, you must perceive it in a way no one else has. Not an easy task at all, but I do believe this to be true. You apply this to every aspect of your writings, and it will improve not only that, but your sense of perception in life as well.
Remaining open to continuous learning, another habit that needs no explaining. One is either willing to open their mind to more information, or they choose to not expand their learnings. I am always open to learning more, always, and forever. We learned throughout this unit the proper ways to reference and cite articles, books, journal entries, and more. While I’m not the biggest fan of citations, I’d much rather free write and go off my own knowledge, I understand the importance of getting other sources, especially if It’s a subject I’m not well-versed in. So, though I wasn’t a fan of learning certain things, I’m still grateful to have learned them and will use them if necessary for the future.
Persisting, something I showed this year and yet still struggled with. This habit goes both ways for me, I feel I persisted greatly on it, but can of course still improve. I would give into temptations, impulsivities, and distractions more often than I would have liked, and while I was able to get assignments done, they weren’t always on time. Still, even if it were past the due date, I would persist and get done what I needed to get done.
I’ve touched a bit on it already when I talked about persisting, but managing impulsivity was, and still is, a habit I struggle to follow through with. I’ve certainly been better about it this year, declining distractions and putting my phone out of arms reach, yet it still manages to get the better of me. What’s helped me loads for this is that I always tell myself how free and less pressured I’d feel if I finish what I’ve got to finish before I indulge in any distractions.
Thinking interpedently, an easier habit for some to display, but for me it’s quite difficult. I was still able to accurately revise and go over others’ papers if needed but would usually like to be done with it as soon as possible. Since writing is one of my outlets, they mean a lot to me sentimentally and I forget not everybody is wired that way. So, when I go over other people’s papers, I never really give them any criticisms which when thought about is ruder than were you to criticize their paper in the first place. It’s a silly thing to overthink I know, I’m just the kind of person who would rather receive criticism and give praise rather than receive it.
Finding humor, and yes, I do see the humor in the fact that this is a habit I struggle with. This habit of needed improvement isn’t as much as a serious one as the others but is still helpful to keep in mind. Laughter is the best medicine, a saying we should all be familiar with, is something I think more people should have in mind. It wouldn’t hurt me to laugh a little, to stray from the somber roads my writing tends to venture and write something more lighthearted. Your writings reflect back onto you, and if all you're writing are sad stories or articles, you yourself are going to feel despaired and upset.
To conclude on this reflection, my habits of choice are excellent in helping me achieve tasks at hand, and the habits I must work on are great areas for improving on. You can never not improve upon yourself, especially if it can be beneficial for your work or education.
There's always room to improve, and the best way to do so in writing is to keep on writing. I'll definitely use the knowledge I've gained from my ENG 101 for future endeavors.