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Liam P. Main
Mrs. DeVoe
English 4
October 27, 2016
Reflective Essay
Ive experienced failure many times in my life before, but nothing like what I experienced
in high school. High school was definitely a wake up call for me, and showed me the reality of
higher education. I failed making good grades during freshman and sophomore year, and it
affected my record not only negatively but permanently as well. There were many problems that
led to my failure, but I learned from it and changed over time gradually.
The first problem of failure was procrastination, and I still struggle with this problem but
Ive been learning ways to counteract it. Procrastination was a major problem freshman year,
and it only made my situation worse because I didn't fully understand the importance of high
school. There were a lot of problems that created procrastination for me like xbox, longboarding,
and hanging out with friends. All of these activities contributed to the problem, and would
distract me from completing my school work. I overcame procrastination as much as possible by
putting my school work before these activities.
The second problem of failure was lack of motivation, and it affected my early high
school career extremely negatively. Lack of motivation was a major problem freshman and
sophomore year, but thankfully overcame this by learning the negative effects the hard way. A
lot of different problems led to my lack of motivation like ignorance, no clear path, and other
things being on my mind. All of these problems led to my lack of motivation, and severely
impacted my learning record in high school. I eventually overcame my lack of motivation by
realizing how I was impacting myself and my teachers negatively.
The third problem of failure was me being in the process of finding myself. Finding
myself was definitely a failure in the process, because I was focused on other things other than
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school work but eventually led to the road of developing who I am. A lot of questions and
confusion led me to finding myself, because I was focusing on things that I thought were more
important than school work. I overcame my confusion slowly but surely by figuring out what I
need to do and how I need to do it, and realizing things of importance. As a good friend once
said to me, realization is enlightenment. (Timothy V.)
In conclusion, Ive experienced failure many times before in my life but Ive thankfully
overcome obstacles that were once in my way. Problems that I waswere dealing with severely
affected my grades, but if I didn't overcome those problems I wouldn't be the person I am today.
Im glad that I have dealt with these problems earlier on in my life rather than having to deal with
them now or in the future.
Rubric rating submitted on: 11/1/2016, 7:31:35 AM by [email protected]
Exemplary
Proficient
Approaching
Developing
Beginning
Clarity
Developing
achieved all
proficient
criteria PLUS: uses language
that is
sophisticated
and expressive
uses language
that is clear,
accurate, and
makes sense
to an
unfamiliar
audience
periodically
uses language
that lacks
clarity and
accuracy
frequently uses
language that
lacks clarity
and accuracy
consistently
uses language
that is unclear
and inaccurate
Relevance
Approaching
achieved all
proficient
criteria PLUS: illustrates a
crucial or
essential
understanding
of self
illustrates how
the learning
experience is
relevant and
meaningful
briefly states
the relevance
or meaning of
the experience
makes an
attempt to
illustrate
relevance, but
the relevance
is unclear to
the reader
no attempt to
illustrate
meaning or
relevance of
experience
Analysis
Developing
achieved all
proficient
criteria PLUS: provides an indepth analysis
that indicates
understanding
of self and
others
crafts a
reflection that
moves beyond
a basic
description of
the experience
to an analysis
of how the
experience
crafts a
reflection that
includes a
description
AND analysis,
yet one of
those elements
is lacking in
depth and/or
crafts a
reflection that
includes a brief
description of
the experience
and
demonstrates
an attempt to
analyze the
crafts a
reflection that
provides only a
description of
the
experience, no
analysis
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contributed to
student
understanding
of self
clarity
experience but
needs
prompting
(written or
verbal) for
deeper
analysis
Interconnectio
ns
Approaching
achieved all
proficient
criteria PLUS:
-highlights
connections
beyond oneself
toward future
expectations or
goals
demonstrates
connections
between past
and present
demonstrates
some
connections
between past
and present
demonstrates
unclear
connection(s)
between past
and present
makes no
attempt to
demonstrate
connections
between past
and present
Self-Criticism
Approaching
achieved all
proficient
criteria PLUS: student shows
new modes of
thinking as a
result of the
experience
crafts a
reflection that
demonstrates
the ability of
the student to
critically
question
and/or
evaluate him
or herself
crafts a
reflection that
demonstrates
the ability of
the student to
question
and/or
evaluate him
or herself but
lacks critical
thinking
crafts a
reflection that
demonstates
limited ability
of student to
question
and/or
evaluate him
or herself
crafts a
reflection in
which the
student does
not evaluate
self
Comments:
76
