Essay 22

Maddy Neff

Mr. Salsich

English 9

May 17, 2010

Internal Lost and Found:

An Essay about What I Have Learned About Myself this Year

I step out of the car, through the doors, into the noisy gym, and look around. I am lost. In Shakespeare's "The Tempest," old, kind Gonzalo says that the men from Milan "found themselves" after being absolutely lost, both physically on Prospero's island, and mentally within themselves. I know what he means, and I have experienced this feeling myself this school year.

TS At the beginning if this school year, I was anxious and morose, (thesaurus word) facing a year without my friends from last year; but in just a few weeks, I was laughing and smiling just as much as I had before. SD I don't think I have found myself fully this year-there are still pieces of me buried, waiting to be unearthed- but if I have learned one thing, it is that I am adaptable. CM At first, I had to adapt to a new set of friends, and I found I had the ability to form friendships, close, happy friendships at that, with people I had not spoken a word to last year. CM Although I was not in a traditional high school setting, I also adjusted to the mountainous piles of high school homework faster than I expected. SD In addition to my chameleon skills at school, I have also been readjusting at home. CM I was given a shiny white laptop for my birthday, and I have adapted to the responsibility of getting my work done on time instead of being distracted by the internet (although I do still struggle with this adaptation). CM I have also changed as a result of other responsibilities and tasks I have been given by my parents; I have learned how to be mature and diligent, (thesaurus word) able to mold myself around strenuous situations and fix them quickly. SD This year has shown me my own versatility. CM I have found one of my strengths in my ability to adapt to any pickle I get stuck in. CM I just stay calm, breathe, and think, and I find the light at the end of the tunnel so fast. CS At the beginning of this year, I was lost, but now, I am ready to graduate as my found, adaptable, happy self.

I step into the car, holding my diploma in my hand, so many smiling faces on the other side of the glass, and I look around. I have found myself, if only partially. I have graduated, and I am Maddy, adaptable, calm-in-a-crisis Maddy. Pine Point held the secret treasure of my moldable self within its halls.

Self Assessment

1. One writing issue I am continuing to work on: I am continuing to work on keeping my writing unified under each chunk. I worked especially hard in this essay to make sure that each CM fit appropriately under each SD.

2. One possible strong point I see in this essay: I think that I used my CMs to support my SDs well in my paragraph. My paragraph is also easy to understand, but still engaging and interesting.

3. One possible weak point I see: I might have been able to vary the sentence lengths more in my paragraph. I used a few short sentences, but not many, and I don't have many very long sentences.