You may not know what the point of your reflection is until you’ve written about it by brainstorming and reflecting on the notes you take. Begin by working to develop a strong sense of your subject with sensory details; help us to smell, see, touch, taste, and hear your subject with concrete language. Let your conclusions about your subject grow from the process of writing and thinking about it. But don’t wait until the end of your essay to share what you have to teach us about your subject. You should strive to weave sensory details and personal reflection throughout the work.
You should also strive to move above the easy, clichéd, and often empty insights you may be tempted to offer as the content of your reflection. Example: “My experience on the football team taught me about the importance of teamwork.” Dig deeper. What did the experience teach you about pain, fear, intelligence, etc.? Or, “I now know that family is everything.” First, we’ve heard this so many times that it no longer makes us feel or understand anything about the true nature of family. Again, dig deeper. What does “everything” actually mean as a way to consider what family is, how we define it, think about it, and how we might compare it to other kinds of relationships in our lives? Part of your grade will be assigned based on the depth of your reflective insights.
