End of Year Reflection

1: What are the three most important things you learned this year?

     At first thought, it seemed as though I haven't learned any life-changing lessons. On second thought, I realized they don't exactly have to be life-changing lessons: just very useful or important lessons.

     The TIQA format, the unhealthiness of procrastination, and avoiding prejudice. Before this school year, I've never had any sort of experience in writing, so I had no idea about the TIQA format. I actually still don't know when I should be using it, and I'm kinda worried about this entire post. The negative by-products of procrastination are some things I'm constantly reminded of so they're stuck in my mind. It's affected a lot of my personal life, but I won't digress. As for prejudice, I thought everyone in this school would be jerks, based on first impressions of the loudest kids, but apparently not, now that I've spent some time in this class. Basically, everyone here is cool. I've learned of not judging books for their covers long ago, but that particular experience this school year made me relearn that.


2: What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

     I have horrible memory, seeing how I already forgot whatever memories I had from two years ago, so I can't really be sure with my answer. Memories of reading activities for TKAM, Night, and TwM may have the highest chance of prolongment for me, since they're all really great books that I'm interested in owning for myself.
     It's rather ironic that I'm losing grasp of those memories while I'm typing this, but I'm sure I'll get them back once I reread those books.


3: What is the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

      Not many things really stand out to me since I don't remember much, but I'm just glad my classmates haven't treated me like an outcast. People have offered to hang out with me throughout the year (I think) but I never really took the chance to (I think), but that is enough of a gesture to let me know I'm not disliked. I expected I would be seen as an oddball way before I even knew which middle school I would be going to, or even before I knew middle schools existed, since they don't in the Philippines.

     Actually, I don't even know what my classmates think of me or what my personality is like. Perhaps let me know in the comments?


4: What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

     I don't have a better answer for this, but perseverance beats intelligence. I've gotten MAP scores that belong in the 99th percentile, but my class work has always been subpar to my work from 7th gradeーbefore I started slacking. Unhealthy habits restricted my time, and thus, the quality of my work this year, and I was unable to give it my all.

     I bet you can tell from my tone that I'm really disappointed in myself. I don't really like this answer since the lesson taught was a result of my incompetence, and it gives off a negative vibe. So, if you're reading this, it would be nice to see something I taught you with a positive vibe in the comments, since I can't really think of anything that fits that description on my own.


5: In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

     Here's the thing, I sort of dislike myself, so I pay more attention to what I can't do than what I can do. That means I have trouble judging myself on my abilities. If I had to say, though, I think the quality of my writing has improved since the beginning of the year. Well, I've never had English Language Arts in my life before, only Grammar, and the only references for professional writing I had frequent contact with were my Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books. In that sense, my biggest accomplishment would be a piece of writing, which coincidentally answers another question on here.


6: What was the most challenging part of the year for you?

     Without a doubt, keeping up with homework while remnants of my obsessive perfectionist personality co-persist along with 5 months' worth of lazy attitude has been freakishly tough. In the Philippines, school ends around late March, and I landed in O'Hare in early April. Since I technically didn't have school then, I had an absurdly long vacation, and in that time my hardworking self vacated my mental confines. That meant I started to put off work until the last minute.

     I can still recall the feeling of exhaustion from staying up way too late, until 2 AM at the most, painstakingly writing countless of notes as accurately and concisely as possible on sticky notes and sticking them inside each and every single page of To Kill a Mockingbird. As wonderful of a book it is, I would much prefer reading casually and discover new details by myself, at my own pace. Working like that was pretty bad. As I'm typing this, it is 1 AM, and that feeling is resonating within me. Send help?


7: What was the best piece of writing you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

     As of making this post, it's still not done yet, but I feel rather proud of the "This I Believe" essay I'm working on. Partially because it has to deal with how I got one of my closest friends, partially because I get to write in my own style, and partially because this is the sum total of the writing experience I've accumulated this year, but mostly because of the event that spawned my belief. I still find it surreal that I helped someone get a hold of himself while he had severe depression. Once I remembered about that, I knew I had to write about it. My past works have been subpar, I know that, but I will make this one minute essay the best I can.


8: Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

     Tuesdays with Morrie was absolutely incredible. In the afterword, I believe, Mitch mentions that one of the publishers he presented the book to said he had no idea what a memoir is. Poor man missed out on an international bestseller. I wonder if that person lays down sometimes and thinks, "Well, I screwed up."

     To Kill a Mockingbird and Night are equally great books, but I tend to be drawn to books with a lighter atmosphere. Yeah, Morrie was going to die, but it had a more casual feel to it, compared to the realist vibe TKAM gives me and the obvious horror of the events told in Night. Tuesdays with Morrie is just a rather simple retelling of a meaningful relationship between an old man and a young man, and it is practically swimming in aphorisms. That book made me rethink a lot about American society, and at points the Philippine society. I mean, you're guaranteed to be degraded for anything you do there, even being smart. That's pretty far from making people feel good about themselves. Ah, it also made me cry a bunch.


9: What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

     Do not EVER think about slacking off, for several reasons:

1. Tons of Falcon Fouls. If you tell an assignment, "I'll do that after I finish this game, yadda yadda," you're in trouble. Trust me, I've gotten multiple Falcon Fouls this way, and at times it gets worse in the way that your payload increases, forcing you to sacrifice time for another project that you also need to work on, spurring more Fouls. I think the fact that even having an actual reason to be absent is potentially enough to put a kilogram on your mental shoulders is proof enough.
2. The suffering. Once you finish all your work, the feeling of satisfaction is way better than suffering full time from unfinished responsibilities.
3. The free time. Wouldn't you like to live a life free of worry? Or at least worry about some other thing in peace? Yeah, I've done that before, when I worried I wronged one of my friends so much that I forgot about my homework. When I did remember, my brain almost stopped working. It was nearing midnight.
4. Repaying Ms. Larson's efforts. Now, I'm not trying to butter her up. But even though I've only been in this class for around three-fourths of the year, I can tell she puts in a lot of work just teaching this class. I've taken note of the multiple times the contents of the bulletin board change in just a day, as well as a bunch of other things I wanted to write but my sleep-deprived mind suddenly decided to forget, but it's mostly in how she seems to manage a lot of things at once. Others may think otherwise, but this is what I think. You can fight me on this, I swear.

Thanks for the wonderful year, guys!