Taking English 111, along with excellent teaching, has also challenged me to bring creativity to my whole aspect of writing. We would all agree that to be creative is a very hard ability to develop. But the demand of such challenging assignments have urged me to create meaningful new ideas, methods, interpretations, etc. It has also motivated me to search for possible synonyms, as well as formal vocabulary, that I wouldn’t have thought of naturally. Additionally, I have learned the correct structure of an essay, important rules of punctuation, etc. This last one has always been a weakness of mine. Moreover, I have enhanced my grammar and the usage of transitional words. Above all, writing has expanded my horizons while inspiring me to explore aspects of myself that I never knew I had.

I could have done better if I had allowed myself to let my writing flow naturally and find enjoyment while doing so. In my opinion, my voice is not very clear and my personality doesn’t stand out in my writing. There is a part of me that still lacks confidence in my ability to write a well written paper. But I believe that with time I can overcome this obstacle.

There is a certain stage in the life span of a person when he or she ponders questions such as “What is the origin of life?”, “Who created the Universe?”, “What is the meaning of life?”, etc . Numerous people suffer from this identity crisis at some point or the other in life; however it is most frequently seen and experienced in the teenage years. It is in this phase where many of the physical, social and psychological changes occur. We all deal with these matters in different ways and with diverse attitudes. In my case, one of my most immediate reactions I had while being confronted with these crucial and complex questions was depression.  At the age of 16, approximately, I faced a very deep state of sadness and desolation, along with an unthinkable anguish I had never thought one could experience. My world became dark and hopeless. The deceiving feeling of not being understood kept on wandering around my mind. Sometimes, I would spend days and nights crying in my room all alone.  The sense of self pity overwhelmed me.

        After some consideration, I have decided that I will write an informative essay. First, I will select a subject, as well as establish a purpose which will lead to an explanation of a certain process. The information will be organized and arranged according to importance. The difficulties and obstacles are going to be mentioned, along with the ways how they can be overcome. One of the paragraphs will include the cautions and warnings that will have to be taken into consideration.

        The first paragraph is going to be a general introduction of the specific topic which I haven’t decided yet. It will include the overall subject that will be explained.  In the following paragraphs, I am going to lay out different main steps to reach the desired process. Each of them will have their subordinated items explaining the how to do it in a more deeper way.

         In my personal life, I can say that I have been very blessed when it comes to health, either physical or mental. Fortunately, I haven’t been to the doctor many times. But on the other hand, I am thankful that I got to experience how it feels to be sick since in that way I was able to appreciate what being healthy means and how grateful I should be each and every day I get to get up of my bed and walk, see, hear, move, etc without any kind of pain.

        Out of all the experiences that I have had, in my home country Argentina and here, I would like to share a good one that happened two years ago. I was an au pair at that moment living with an American family in Arlington. The au pair company provided me of a health insurance, even though I wasn’t quite sure what it really consisted of. It all started with a simple and plain pain on one of my fingers, I believe it was my right index. Like anyone else under this circumstance, I didn’t think it would be something important so I disregarded it but the pain persisted. After a few days, I realized that my finger was very swollen, up to the point that I wasn’t able to touch or grab stuff. One night I recalled that the pain was so acute , along with the discomfort of having a swollen finger , that I had my boyfriend take me to an emergency room without even thinking about the consequences or costs or anything. So we went to an emergency room in Arlington. After filling out some papers, I had a small surgery done. The doctor was very nice and within one hour or two hours we were out. I don’t have any complaints whatsoever. I was very happy with how things were handled. My next concern was, of course, how I was going to pay for the treatment, being aware of how expensive the medicine can be here.

        Through out my life, I have had good and bad experiences, but even in the bad ones there is always something to be learned from them. Overall, I can emphasize how blessed I have been in my life regarding health. This is not something to take for granted.

Have you ever experienced love?  How would you describe it? LOVE, the combination of four

letters that on their own have no bearing on the outcome of one’s life, yet, when put together have such

powerful meanings in many different ways for so many different people. For some, it is a physical or

mental emotion, for others,  it is often a spiritual sense of wellbeing. For most, love comes without

conditions and does not hold anything back. Unfortunately, too often it seems that it is an experience that

can never be recaptured again. For me, I have seen and experienced the effects of love each and every

day. From my life experience I can say that in order to love someone or something, first you must have

received that love in some way or another.

I have mainly received love from my family which has not only been a huge source of this love in

my life but also it has made an enormous impact on the way I view love. I grew up in a family of seven,

being the oldest of five children. As I grew older, I experienced the different ways of showing and

expressing love. I always remember my dad coming home from work with candies of different types. It

was almost like a ritual. We all knew that he would always bring something, regardless of the quantity or

the size. It wasn’t until later on in life that I realized that it was his way of saying “I love you”. On the

other hand, my mom would hug us and we would know that it was from the heart.  One of the other

things I remember is all the sacrifices my parents have made to please us . One example of this was

expressed when we all went on vacation as a family to the beach.  I recalled that one of my brothers and I

wanted to invite our best friends so my parents not only allowed us to invite them but also agreed to take

two cars and rent a bigger house than planned to fit us all. Not that it was cheap to afford all of us plus

two more people…the decision was made out of love. Nowadays, even though I live abroad and my

family is all back in my home country Argentina, I can see how my mom still shows me love through

different ways, such as, sending me presents that she know I am going to like and trying to be very

present figure in my life .

Now that I am living in a different country I have learned a lot of different things about love and life.

I dare to say that first and foremost FAMILY is not only the biological family, rather it is also the

spiritual family that shows one love and can be a part of one’s life in different ways and circumstances. A

relevant example of this is when I came back to the United States for the second time. After being an au

pair for one year I was, not only welcomed, but also considered a member of an American family that I

had met at church during my first visit. I cannot even express with words how much kindness, generosity,

patience and affection was shown to me. It could be overwhelming at times. I will never forget how the

eldest of the five kids gave up not only her room but her possessions to make my stay even more

comfortable. As if this wasn’t enough, the parents didn’t want to accept any kind of payment of any type

and made it clear to me that I didn’t have any time limit on my stay.

As I am beginning a family of my own, I can say that I feel more equipped and eager to give

generously the same kind of love that has been shown to me. In conclusion, I have learned that love is the

tie that binds families together.

One of the reasons I am here is to pass on the love to people, which originally comes from HIM, as well

as to reach out to them by sharing the life,  hope and peace that comes from HIM.  I believe that God

has a different   plan for each person according to their personality, gifts and abilities. Each of us on

earth is unique.  I am still trying to discover what that plan is for  me specifically. I also believe that I am

here to live life to the fullest, enjoying the blessing of being alive by discovering what being alive really means.