The Personal Reflective Essay

The personal reflective essay presents your insights on a particular aspect of life
as you have observed and experienced it. It can include a vivid description of what you
have witnessed and gone through. When you write this type of essay, it is like inviting
your audience to enter your mind as you narrate significant turning points and share your
views with them. The process of reflection entails recalling what happened to you in the
past or looking at your present circumstance, unveiling what this event or condition means
to you, and revealing what you have realized because of this occurrence. It is meant to
enhance your perspective and inspire your readers to explore their own thoughts about
the subject you have presented.

Why do I consider this instance important? How did I feel while it was happening?
Why did I react that way? What lessons have I gained from it? What have I learned about
myself, about other people, and about the world? These are some points of reflection that
you may consider in developing your piece. The subject may range from daily incidents
to special episodes in your life. It may be as simple as bumping into an old friend from
high school on your way to your college class or as helping out a family in their time of
crisis. What is important is that you consider it as a striking incident or a turning point that
made you pause and think about what it about what it signifies.

Following is a personal essay which shows the writer's reflection on what it really
means to lose one's sense of sight.

Features of a Personal Reflective Essay

In your personal reflective essay, you are not just narrating a story or an event that
happened to you, or describing a person or object. You are also reflecting the significance
of this subject on your life. You want to share your insight/s on this subject with your
audience because you recognize its significance and, in doing so, you are actually
revealing the kind of person you have become.

A personal reflective essay begins with an intriguing topic-something that interests

you, or stirs something in you. In the sample essay, Abola writes about his experience of
getting a massage from a blind man—the ones you see in open public spaces who offer
their services at a much cheaper rate. This is not an earth shattering or life changing
event, and what you might call an ordinary, everyday experience, but as you have read,
it triggered several questions in the mind of the writer—questions that initially were about
general things about blind people—

What else can they no longer clean so well, having lost their sight?

—to questions that reflect on what life might be like for those who are blind—
Can they feel the weight of a stare? Or are they free of the burden of self-consciousness?
Does the fear of being looked at end when looking has ended?

The main body of the essay needs to be interesting to your audience. It can be
structured in various ways, as long as the ideas relate to one another and to the main
insight of the essay. The most common structure you can use is that of a narrative— told
from the subject. You should also include vivid, descriptive details to help your
audience visualize what you are writing about and therefore understand the significance
that you have reflected on.
In the sample essay, Abola narrates his experience of the massage but at the
same time describes to us what he sees, smells, and hears around him,

He starts with the shoulders. He has just washed his hands with alcohol, pouring it from
a bottle he has in his pants pocket and wiping his hands together vigorously, and
tentatively gropes for my shoulders. My shoulders found, he squares himself against the
chair, neither too near nor far, just beyond the orbit of others like him working on other
customers and circling their plastic chairs.

He puts both hands on me and begins.

It is a slow day, only two of us sitting on monobloc chairs in a row of six men in black
pants and blue sport shirts in this passageway in a mini- mall at Philcoa. I face a window
of Mercury Drug displaying iapers for babies and adults, cans of milk, baby things. To the
left are stairs to the second floor and a passageway. Under the stairs is a small room
where a small man with crossed eyes emerges, clutching a broom and dustpan…

Note how such descriptions trigger the questions he asks in different parts of the essay—
questions that reveal his thoughts and feelings.

The hands move from my arm to my hand and fingers. Fingers on the knuckles, the meat
of the thumb and palm, the wrist. I turn to my right. To my right the tiangge stalls have
disappeared. Only a stretch of gray concrete exists, a driveway forbidden to cars.

Do images stored in their brains lose their vividness, like photographs rubbed to a
dullness by the slow fingers of timer?
 Note as well that his personal reflections have not been explicitly stated nor
revealed in one go—but they are given to us in bits and pieces, implicitly through the
questions, so that toward the end we realize why this event is significant to the writer.

I mutter thanks to my woman, the man, to the slowly spilling afternoon, and start the walk
home, leaving the passage between light and dark, past and possibility, leaving the men
to the questions we wish never to have to answer.

Abola's insight not only gives us a glimpse of what he feels about the entire
experience but also lets us see the larger significance of the event. He makes us realize
(just as he did) how lucky we are that we still have our sense of sight invites us to feel
empathy (just as he did) for blind people. By doing this, the naration of the event becomes
more than just about Abola and his experience of the message. It is actually about us and
how little we understand about the experiences of people with disability.

This is the heart of the personal reflective essay—an expanded, if not better,
understanding of the world through your subject, an insight from pondering and probing,
which you want to share with the rest of the world.

Writing the Personal Reflective Essay

When you write your personal reflective essay, you have to consider your purpose
and communication context. Would you like to tackle a recent incident in your community
or your country and think about what it means to you personally? Would you like to talk
about a childhood episode in your life that made you who you are today? Would you like
to enlighten your audience about the undiscovered future of your personal hobby such as
the joys and pains of watching a telenovela or TV series?

You also have to consider your audience and your mode and medium in choosing
the level of language you will use. Will you write primarily for young people from different
cultural backgrounds? Will your readers include a local and international audience? Will
your piece be read in class? Will you post it in your blog? Will you submit it to an online
publication?

Considering your purpose, your audience, and your mode and medium. What
stance will you take on the matter? What tone will you use in presenting your stance? Is
a humorous tone appropriate? Is a serious tone a good choice? Or is a romantic tone the
best alternative?

Steps in Writing a Personal Reflective Essay

Brainstorming. After defining your purpose for writing a personal reflective essay
and defining the communication context, you may consider possible topics you can
explore from your bank of experiences. Choose the one that is closest to your heart so
your ideas can flow smoothly. Remember that writers have different ways of developing
their ideas. Some writers come up with an outline or list down bullet points to help them
take off while others go straight to writing their paragraphs. Consider your writing style
when you brainstorm. Once you have generated ideas, you may begin writing your essay.

Writing the draft. Essays are conventionally structured according to the following
order: introduction, body or discussion, and conclusion, similar with what you probably
learned in your high school composition classes. The introduction provides a brief
background of the topic and it is designed to catch your readers’ attention. For example,
you may begin with a rhetorical question (e.g., "Do you control your own life or do you let
life control you?") or a short narrative (e.g., a one-paragraph account about the time you
lost control of your life). The thesis statement or main idea is stated explicitly, and it is
usually written in the introduction (e.g., “While I cannot control the difficult circumstances
in my life, I have the power to overcome them”). Sometimes it is written in the conclusion,
or sometimes it is implied and the readers are left to infer it based on the details given in
the essay as discussed earlier.

The thesis statement is elaborated in the body of the essay or the discussion
paragraphs. Examples or illustrations are provided to enable the audience to understand
the main points of the essay. Narrative and descriptive details are used to enhance the
entire essay to make it engaging. The conclusion presents a summary of the essay and
restates the thesis. It usually ends with a general statement that persuades the readers
to agree with the stance of the writer.

In writing your personal reflective essay, you may follow the conventional structure.
However, you may also consider an alternative structure that allows you to narrate your
experiences, describe your observations, and reveal your Eureka moments or realizations
in a more creative way. If you choose this route, be sure your ideas are organized
according to a particular structure as illustrated in the pieces of Abola, Caday, and
Galang.

Abola's reflection points are highlighted in the italicized questions in his work after
providing related chunks of details and the thesis is implied as discussed earlier. Caday's
essay, on the other hand, explores possible theme songs that can best define his parents'
relationship. Specific instances that illustrate their love are enumerated, and in the
conclusion, the song "How deep is your love" emerges to describe the bond shared by
his parents. Again, keep in mind your purpose and communication context in choosing
the structure for your essay. The structure you choose will help you develop and organize
your ideas.

If you take a look at Abola's and Càday's pieces, both writers use local words to
enhance their descriptions. Abola uses terms such as "sando [undershirt|" and "tiangge
[stall]" while Caday uses "Mang and Pang [Mother and Father]." Moreover, these words
signal their identities as Filipino writers and inform the readers about these cultural details
which enrich their essays. Thus, if there are local words or concepts that may enliven
your writing, use them and provide an English translation if you are writing for an
international audience especially if the meaning cannot be inferred from the details you
present.

Galang's identity as a Filipino writer is established directly in the title of her essay.
“Habal-habal Wisdom” is a combination of a Filipino local term and an English word. Habal
-habal is unique to particular local communities in the Philippines, and it does not have
an equivalent concept in English so she defines it in the first paragraph. She includes
other local terms such as FX (a large utility vehicle that can accommodate several
people), poblacion (city center or downtown), and kakey (teacher) to make her description
more vivid and appealing. She transports her audience into the community where she
gained wisdom and introduces them to a new culture and way of life through her vivid
description. She organizes her reflection points by describing her habal-habal rides and
comparing them to her experiences as a volunteer. Her thesis or conclusion is reflected
in her last statement.

Thus, in relaying your ideas to your intended audience, use your unique voice and
style to let them know who you are. You may enhance your personal reflective essay in
English with other languages or expressions that may indicate your culture and back
ground. By doing this, your essay becomes more distinct, vibrant, and enlightening. You
do not just get to share your epiphany or insight with your audience; you also get to inform
them about a feature of your culture which may expand their viewpoint.

There are certain matters that you have to remember in writing your personal
reflective essay. If it focuses on delicate matters (e.g., divorce or separation), protect the
identities of people who may be involved. You do not have to name them unless they give
you permission to do so. You may just come up with general descriptions (e.g., my friend)
to respect their privacy, the way Abola and Galang did. They just used general
descriptions or references (e.g., "blind man"; "my co-volunteer”). In Caday's essay, some
people are named, but the matter he presents is not sensitive so it is reasonable.

Revising the draft. After writing your draft, edit your statements in terms of grammar
conventions and mechanics (e.g., spelling, punctuation marks, etc.) to make your work
more intelligible to your intended audience. Show it to your peers or teachers to get
feedback from them in terms of content, structure, conventions, and style. Consider their
comments and revise your draft further. In revising your draft, reread your work as your
reader so you can identify the items that needs further improvement.

Presenting your work. After developing your draft which may entail multiple revisions,
finalize your work. Present it to your teacher, share it with your peers or submit it to
publications that welcome contributions. If you intend to submit for publication, be sure to
follow their prescribed format and other specifications.