Reflecting on My Writing

Looking back at the journaling that I have done over the course of the semester, I have seen much improvement. In the beginning when I first started using the journal exercise, the writing seemed sort of awkward and unsure. I did not really understand how I was supposed to be writing, and I had a bit of trouble doing it. As the semester progressed, however, my writing started to become more comfortable, and I had an easier time free writing. It became less of a chore and more of a release for me, and I think that progression shows through my writing. As the semester went on, I think that my journal writing developed more of a flow, and was more fluid. I do not know if this helped my writing in general, because I still have a hard time writing for other classes. When writing, it is still difficult for me to focus on one train of thought and get words down on the paper. Hopefully, I will be able to write with a more conscious stream of thought in the future.

Something that I noticed about my journal is that I have a ton more questions than I have answers. I am constantly questioning why things are the way that they are, and do not settle on any one answer. I guess that says something about my curiosity. This might explain why I am interested in the sciences. There is a lot of room for exploration in the sciences, and you often have to search for a while to find a good answer.

I also noticed that my views of what is right and wrong are often black and white. This is probably the logical part of my mind coming into play. As shown by my personality test, my ENTP personality type greatly values logic, and in my writing that is often very evident.

One point of my journal where my writing just fell apart was when we were asked to write about our goals and plans for the future. I completely froze up. Although that prompt was at the end of my journal, my writing seems forced and awkward. I did not like this prompt because thinking about the future stresses me out. It reminds me that I still do not know what I want to do with my life, and makes me focus on the pressure to make a decision. I have noticed throughout my journal that whenever the subject of the future, planning, or making goals comes up I either freeze up or avoid the question as well as I can.

Although journaling throughout the semester was somewhat useful in taking control of my thoughts and helping my writing, I probably will not continue to do this in the future. It was not too painful to do, but I did not enjoy it enough to continue to do it at my own free will.