Cristian Gonzalez

Mrs. Angulo

AP English Language & Composition

6 May 2017

Reflective Essay

Throughout my junior year, I have had many events that have greatly impacted my life.

These key events, whether positive or negative, help define a person and their abilities, like they

did with me. I have challenged myself with AP courses, in an effort to enhance my intellectual

comprehension. This past year has greatly impacted me academically, physically, and mentally

through tremendous hard work. Each year of high school ends with me being positively impacted

in a different way from the previous year. I have developed skills that will prepare me for my

future endeavors.

I have always been a vivid thinker, but throughout my academic coursework, I have

greatly enhanced my critical thinking and analytical skills. I now dig deeper into all subjects that

I pursue in order for me to challenge myself and improve my problem solving skills. When I

look at papers I wrote in the beginning of the year I can see that Ive improved. This type of

analytical skill is what allowed me to flourish in my academics, showing me the areas I needed

to further develop. There is always room for improvement no matter how good you are at

something, nothing is perfect, but can always be better. Academically, I feel that I have been

growing at a rapid rate and learning a lot of new concepts. My grades throughout my junior year

have been very solid, but I still believe I can further enhance my studies.

I am very proud of how I have progressed physically throughout the year. I constantly

pushed myself to strive for my maximum capacity of strength and stamina in Swimming and
Water polo. Over the past two years, my Water polo team greatly improved and took home the

league title for the first time two years in a row. In swimming I made it to CIF for the first time

ever. It took a lot of rigorous work and dedication to accomplish this goal. Both of these

achievements mean the world to me because it shows how hard I worked to get where I am

today. There is always room for improvement and I will continue to push myself for the skills I

desire.

Mentally throughout the year I felt I've grown as a person. I expanded my learnings and

also helped my fellow peers grow. I am most proud of how I learned to manage my patience. I

used to be a very impatient person, a trait Ive never been fond of. Over the year I learned how to

control my temper, this allowed me not to be stressed during times of rage. This almost mastered

trait has really allowed me to grow socially. In the past, through most of my high school years, I

lacked social skills. This recently developed mental strategy has allowed me to grow in ways I

never thought were possible.

In conclusion, junior year has been with filled with many life lessons experiences that

can't be replaced by anything. I am very grateful for the numerous positive impacts I have faced

this year, which have helped define me as a person. These events really reflect the tremendous

hard work I put into improving anything and overcoming any obstacles that may come my way.

Overall, this year was filled with many significant events, helping me define who I am as a

person.