James Kono

Z. De Piero
WRIT 339
Summer 15
9-9-15
Metacognitive Reflection
I had a great experience in Personal Journal, WRIT 339. Coincidently, what
made this experience that much more significant was taking Service Learning
concurrently for the following reasons. First, Service Learning is all about learning
through experience, the readings are commonly spiritual-based and reflective. Personal
Journal is a class that demands reflection as well. The readings in WRIT 339 had an
influential aspect of being mindful and present, as did Service Learning.
My approach to journaling fluctuated from week to week. I would write 4-5 pages
in my journal one week and the following write 1-2 pages. But over the course of the
quarter my thinking changed. I was much more present and mindful due to the readings
in this class and Service Learning. For our Week 3 meeting we did field journaling. We
were to take it all in and record it. Observe what [we saw]. Capture dialogue. Take
sensory stock of [the] environmentthe people, the place, the vibe. This assignment
required us to be as mindful and aware as possible. It was a refreshing assignment, one
that required a much different type of thinking than ordinary AUSB classes ask. In this
respect, it was very psychological and self-awareness grew.
My writing changed. My journal entries changed as well. My writing became me.
I wrote how I wanted. I wrote where I wanted, when I wanted, and most importantly
what I wanted. I wrote what I felt. I wrote what I saw. I wrote about people around me. I
wrote about the places I was and the things going on around me along with thoughts and

feelings. I wrote about work. I wrote about what was going on during that week, month,
even this year. Many of my pages were reflections on what I did that day or week. I
reflected on what I was looking forward to and what I was dreading. It may seem silly but
I learned a lot about dealing with responsibilities and controlling my feelings and
presumptions.
I learned about life. I learned it is impossible to always be happy. Its
impossible to always have a positive outlook on things going around you, although
optimism is healthier than pessimism. You cant always be happy. I cant always tell
myself to be in a good mood. Every emotion would fade and blend together. You need the
bad to experience the good. These lessons came from The Happiness Project.
I think through studying this stuff I grew confidence and acceptance of how I
write. We discussed in class, there is writing for academia, then theres personal writing.
There are rules youre supposed to follow in school. There are no rules to follow if youre
writing for yourself. Reading my classmates weekly blog-posts was very meaningful.
First, I was able to see their interpretation of readings or assignments and how they
expressed their thoughts and reactions. (AJ Skiles was hands-down my favorite writer in
our class.) I took a lot away from reading his posts week to week. In my opinion his
writing could not have had a more conversational tone and for some reason I am
always shooting for that target. Close to the bulls-eye, just not quite. Maybe Im being
harsh on myself.
Doing this stuff gave me a sense of comfort and flexibility with the moves I
made in my own writing. If I really wanted to, I could write a sentence that goes on
forever and run on and on, but if I felt that wasnt a good move or the move I should

make during that part of my writing, then I could make it much shorter and not drag on
the sentence and have it keep going and going and going.
Journaling is a great way to remember things that have passed. In some ways, it
was my window to look back on what I was doing and where I was. There are plenty of
examples in my own journal. The Jesus story and how he pulled me out of the mud. In
my journal I made lists. I made notes. I asked questions. I answered questions. I wrote a
lot and sometimes I wrote just a little.
One of my favorite assignments was the different journal analysis. Dane
Reynolds. Keith Haring. Orville Wright. Three men. Three very different eras. A nearpresent time journal, a older journal, and a seemingly ancient journal. A major takeaway was the difference in application of these journals. Mr. Wright wrote down every
shred of data for his experiments with flight. Mr. Haring wrote of experiences and the
people he met. Mr. Reynolds had a journal to organize his concept and visualization of
how he wanted a film to look and sound.
In my opinion, I never had a stance on journaling. I have always felt that
journaling is a useful tool to jot down ideas, clear your thoughts, or understand yourself. I
have had kept a journal prior to this class for a Field Botany class. We were required to
keep a journal and take notes on different species of plants we observed. I used the
journal to jot down places we stopped on our camping trip. I noted what I ate. I doodled. I
noted where we were and what things looked like. That was a few years past, I never
reopen that journal until taking this class.
I think what differentiates this class journal and the field notes journal, is that I
think Ill continue to write in this personal journal. Id rather write for myself than write

for another purpose. In this case, I think what changed was my feeling toward keeping a
daily or weekly journal. I enjoy having the ability to flip through small pages and glance
at thoughts or feelings or drawings.
I took this course because of the title, Personal Journal. I thought it would be
interesting to learn how to write a journal or keep one. I thought it would be fun to keep a
journal and how it could possibly change my writing. Like the rest of the undergraduate
program, I had taken Academic Writing. The Academic Writing course allowed me to
hone in on my skills that I developed through high school and other college courses.
During this class I also developed a humble confidence with my writing style and
techniques. Through WRT 339 I was hoping to find a more personal voice in my
writing. I was hoping to find my own style. I think I achieved these characteristics in my
writing, although getting feedback from Zack wasnt always given. I wish some tips,
pointers, moves, techniques or anything else could have been thrown my way. In
retrospect, I didnt ask either, so thats sort of my fault. I understand that it is challenging
to criticize someones personal writing, especially a journal. I understand the goal was for
all the students to grow comfortable to write what they wanted.
Other than your typical academic essays, professional emails, research papers, etc.
writing can be a unique tool to express anything and everything. Handwriting a journal,
as opposed to using a computer and typing, requires much more effort. It is much slower
than typing and youre not confined to the specific functions of Microsoft Word.
Handwriting communicates a more intimate message than typed font. For me, it is easy to
differentiate between the journal entries where I was hurried to write down all my
thoughts and the entries where I paced myself. If I was in a rush to not lose anything that

came to my mind my writing was cursive and sloppy. If I was paced my handwriting was
much more clear, legible, rather than scribbled, noted. Often I would use ALL CAPS.
Context-wise, I was writing in more detail when hurried.
There were many aspects of this class that worked well for me. I think given
writing prompts during the class-time, for us to write down answers to the questions in
our journal, was helpful. That definitely filled some pages of my journal for me. I took
the questions and prompts seriously. I answered as honest and genuine as I could. During
some weekly meetings I would want to continue writing my response instead of moving
on to other things. Sometimes after our class, I would take my journal home and continue
to write or pick up where I left off answering the tough questions like The last 3 years
of my life described in 3 words The one relationship I would like to fix What
makes you happy? (name ~10 things) Why? These questions spurred gratitude,
mindfulness, reflection.
The readings were really helpful. Even though Gretchen Rubin was annoying
during some chapters, I enjoyed the Happiness Project, especially some quotes that were
referenced. (ie: St. Bernard You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees
and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters. Pg. 208) Writing
Down the Bones is one of very few textbooks Im going to hold on to. Other readings
gave great advice, The Last Lecture, Complaining does not work as a strategy.
Specifically, this quote helped me tremendously through this quarter. I was having such a
difficult time juggling everything and I began to complain to my parents, roommates,
siblings, all I was doing was pouting and not working toward completion. Any time we
spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. These two quotes can even be

applied to my work. There are times when Ill be doing something and petty frustration
and anger begins to grow. Every time this happens it makes the task so unpleasant and
seemingly lasts longer.
Zack, this class was so incredibly pleasant and I wish it could have lasted longer.
Thank you for your dedication to our class and our creative lessons. As we wrapped up
this quarter, we were given the chance to present our journal transformation projects. I
interpreted everyones project was a personal summary of his and her quarter. We all
brought very different opinions and ideas to the table, as our projects showed. I really
pushed myself outside of my comfort-zone. I wish I had the balls to sit in class and see
everyones reaction, oh well. Again, thank you and I suggest you change nothing if you
teach this class again. It would be unfair to the incoming students because we each gained
so much from this experience.