Exploratory Essay / Reflective Essay

Go Get Your Blessings...Unapologetically  

How many goals have you set in your life? Hundreds? Thousands? Even more? How many of these goals have you achieved? Roughly 70 percent of people fail to achieve the goals they have set for themselves; for instance: some quit before they’ve even begun the first step out of fear, some were trolled out of success, or stopped because they became the loathing image they despise. Even though many individuals struggle to achieve their goals without falling into societal views, they distractingly stop them from reaching the setout goal. Remember always “Go Get Your Blessings...Unapologetically.”  

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Many influencers have quit their jobs or discontinued their social media because of negative responses from trolls, which ultimately counteracted the purposes of their goals. For example, many trolls bullied Lizzo off her Twitter when her sole purpose was to celebrate all body types but instead had the opposite effect. Lizzo tweeted, “Yeah, I can’t do this Twitter sh– no more.. too many trolls.. I’ll be back when I feel like it.” Lizzo was well-known on Twitter for spreading “motivational thoughts and body image positivity.” Unfortunately, this made her a “target for trolls and harassment... and would eventually “lead to her decision to leave the platform.” (Chen). Most recently, Chrissy Teigen “announced her decision to leave Twitter” due to trolls when her main goal is to make people “happy” by sharing experiences and advice jokingly (Chen). However, instead, they should take a mental health break and return to collect their profit of doing what they love unapologetically. 

McLean Hospital, December 30, 2020 at 9:15 AM EST 495773413

As some struggle with becoming the individuals, they loathe most and succeed. Essena O'Neill quit Instagram, describing it as "contrived perfection made to get attention, and called for others to "quit social media." As many people strive to be 'popular' online to "validate themselves," influencers are really "manipulating photos and captions to give the idea they are happy just to get 'followers'" (Hunt). As these influencers participate in this stereotype, they repel the purpose of goals. When instead, they should follow "SMART": Your goal has to be "defined clearly and come with details"...You can keep "track of and evaluate the progress you have made" and "motivate yourself with rewards"... The goal must not be "entirely out of reach." Try to "envision whether you can attain it first"... The perceived outcome must be "beneficial to you so that you have the motivation to pursue it"... your goal "challenging and motivating," it must be "bound by time with some urgency, whether it's tomorrow, next week or five years later" (Mind Elevator). Therefore, to say true to yourself and purpose, have a set plan, follow it and don't get sidetracked by the incentives and change the mindset of your goal. 

 

   https://www.yourtango.com/2019321350/inspirational-black-history-month-quotes-african-american-civil-rights-activist-quotes

Overall, some influencers lose track of why they began their journey to success they're on; however, the more awareness brought to this topic, the fewer people will struggle to achieve their goals without falling into societal views distractingly stop them from reaching the setout goal. Therefore, everyone needs to "Go Get Their Blessings...Unapologetically." 

 

                                                                 Citations 

 

Elevator, Mind. “Systematic Goal Setting to Achieve Your Goals Effectively.” Medium, 5 June 2020, systematic-goal-setting-to-achieve-your-goals-effectively-238abf1e4122 

WINFIELD, CHRIS. “The 3 Things That Stop Most People from Achieving Their Goals Identify and Overcome These Three Obstacles to Achieve Any Goal You Set.” Inc, 3 Nov. 2015, https://www.inc.com/chris-winfield/the-3-things-that-stop-most-people-from-achieving-their-goals.html . 

Hunt, Elle. “ Essena O'Neill Quits Instagram Claiming Social Media 'Is Not Real Life'.” The Guardian, 3 Nov. 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/03/instagram-star-essena-oneill-quits-2d-life-to-reveal-true-story-behind-images. 

Chen , Andrew. “Chrissy Teigen and More Creators Who Have Quit Social Media For Mental Health Published.” captive8.Io, 26 Mar. 2021, https://captiv8.io/blog/2021/03/26/chrissy-teigen-and-more-creators-who-have-quit-social-media-for-mental-health/ . 

        Reflective Essay 

 

Even though English Composition is a typical class incoming first-year students mostly fear, it shouldn't be because it doesn't require as many essays as expected. Within Prof. Seals 1102 ENGL Composition course, it's incredibly fast-paced. I also appreciate that Prof. Seal does not hold us after the lesson is over to be productive outside of her class. Prof. Seal grants students a lot of freedom, which I am not used to because, for our exploratory essay, and given a chance to develop a topic that we're most passionate about. In addition, Prof. Seal induced us to Grammarly to reform our articles: she is very understanding and modest when submitting late work.   

 

Within these last four weeks, Prof. Seals has briefly retaught me MLA format: its proper structure to be considered correct like proper citations, page numbering, etc. Also, the importance of a portfolio and its necessity for your ENGL growth. Within this lesson, Prof. Seals created a different task for 2nd-semester first-year students to develop a blog to build up our portfolio, which I'm incredibly excited about and can't wait to see the final results. 

Also, as an incoming first-year student I have never kept up with African American societal adversities or history; however, that is what ENGL 1102 has consisted of. Within ENGL 1102 it taught me how to apply QQC while also how to think differently and empathize with others with or without their background history. QQC stands for: Question, Quote, and Comment so you’ll analyze an article and give a brief description of the article using QQC. I'm educated on these topics and plan to stay educated with the history of African Americans, more societal problems, and the importance of using QQC because of ENGL 1102. 

 

With Argumentative essay it refreshed my brain on the structure of the essay. For instance, the are 6+ paragraphs in total, the introduction involves a brief discussion of the essay and a thesis. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd body paragraphs involve a topic sentence and of course a detailed explanation of the articles. The last body paragraph is the counterclaim where your rebuttal the opposing side. The conclusion which wraps up the previous paragraphs and restates the thesis. 

 

As I attended this class it supplies students with networking skills because we constantly had to introduce ourselves. As we were introduced to group work: for instance, when we partnered up to add critiques on each other's blogs and our real conversations as a class about current actions in the world and on social media. I liked that as a classmate when we help one another out of class and give each other suggestions within an essay. The constant opportunity for tutorial with Professor Seals. 

 

Overall, yes ENGL 1102 is a core class and requires demanding work and attention; however, it has shown and taught me new lifelong lessons. So, while it does not require as many essays as expected, has an adequate English Department, teaches you societal issues, African American history, build person portfolios (blog), new techniques to frame essays like(argumentative, MLA structure, and QQC), and it also supplies students with networking skills; therefore, ENGL 1102 is beneficial and is a necessary course for individuals' future success.