My Journey towards Personal Growth: Reflective Essay

Life to death is a journey. Our first day to our last is a journey. Childhood to adulthood is a journey. In our life, we partake in many journeys, some massive and some small. Every day from the morning to the night, everything we do is a journey, but something we don’t realize is that these journeys are what is shaping up. These daily journeys we unknowingly partake in are what cause the growth in us. This growth is what causes us to rise from a brainless little baby into who we are or what we are going to become.

Time, pain, and love are some of the few words that have an impact on almost everyone’s life. While these words don’t have that big of an impact, the significance and what they represent are a few of the biggest impacts we have on our life. Growth is the most significant of them all, drawing into pain, love and more is what makes us different and unique. It is a stepping stone we need to overcome, a mountain we need to climb, and it is our first and last journey, and upon completing these, we come out better than ever. So, this is the growth that I have achieved this year. Three books I have taken in and used to help me grow this year.

'The Hate U Give', written by Angie Thomas, is by far one of the most influential books I have ever read in my life. Suggested to me by an ex-classmate, this was the first book I kicked off my wider reading task with. The book talks about injustice against race and how a brave girl rises to challenge this injustice. How this girl (Starr) deals with her cousin’s (Khalil) death and a racist police system. How this girl speaks out against racism. How this girl grows up. This book made me think about the injustice that still goes on in our world, the Hong Kong Riots, the North Korean issues, and the wars in the Middle East. All injustice could be stopped with empathy. It made me realize that racism is still an issue. This book made me understand the importance of speaking up, of family, of community, and most of all overcoming our fears.

I believe Starr’s growth in 'The Hate U Give' influenced me. I started to speak up about what I was passionate about, whether it was about basketball, my schooling, or the environment. I believe myself to be more confident and more outgoing because of this newfound ability to speak up. It made me realize that I witnessed racism and injustice and was not doing anything to combat it. I feel Starr and I aren’t so different; she is a teenager, just like me, and she goes through arguments with her family and community, just like me. Seeing her coming together with them made me realize the significance of my family and community and made me appreciate how lucky I am. The emotions and journey I went through reading this book motivated me to read more books.

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After reading quite a controversial and challenging book, I decided to read something easier. I had decided to take a journey down memory lane and read a book my mother had read to me when I had first started to play basketball. 'Salt in His Shoes' written by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn Jordan. This book is about Michael Jordan as a child who almost quit basketball as he believed he wasn’t tall enough. After losing a game he asks his mum how he can grow taller, and she tells him to put salt in his shoes, to say a prayer, and to be patient. After a few months, he measured himself and wasn’t taller and became disappointed. His father talked to him and told him that while being taller might make him play a little better but determination, practice, and will in what make a player win. Michael runs to his game and, when it matters most, scores the basket and wins the game. From then he knows that he doesn’t have to be tall to be good at basketball.

This book was very relatable a few years ago as much as it is now. When I started basketball, I was 11. Surprisingly I wasn’t the shortest kid, but I was definitely the least skilled. I thought to myself that I wanted to be better. I had the determination, will, and patience. I put in the practice and soon enough, not one year later, I was selected to play rep. I was under 16 at the time. Going from the tallest to about average height was at first hard, but it meant I just had to work harder. That was almost a year ago. Now that I'm under 18, I am actually the shortest player on the team, which not only makes me wish I was a bit taller but also tells me I need to work harder. Personally, I feel like the first time I heard this book all of the talk of determination, patience, and willpower fused into my attitude. While I feel like this determination, patience, and will don’t translate into everything I do, but when they do, I believe I can get my best work done.

My final book is 'The Crossover' by Kwame Alexander. While it is another book about basketball, it is also about so much more. 'The Crossover' is about two twins (Josh and JB) who are stars on their basketball team. They are both going through puberty, dealing with girls and other stuff. Along with all of that, their dad is sick, and their relationship with each other is drifting. After their father dies, they learn the many lessons he was trying to teach them and become closer than ever before.

Another extremely relatable book for me. Not just because basketball is in the book but also because of what they go through. Alexander uses basketball as an allegory to the game of life. He does this through the dad saying that lessons learned in basketball, such as sometimes everyone loses or wins also translate to real life. I also feel this way using things I learn in basketball in real life, and they may not be significant lessons, but I believe they make me a better person. Also in 'The Crossover' there are themes of family and learning your identity. These themes really resonated with me. It made me realize the significance of my family, but also the significance of me, of what I have been able to achieve and what I am going to pursue. The words by the dad “Hustle dig, grind push, run fast, change pivot, chase pull, aim shoot, work smart, live smarter, play hard, practice harder” really affected me, making me more determined in whatever I’m doing. “...I knew one day I'd need my own wings to fly”, Josh says this explaining why he has dreads, but this is also significant to me, when I first came into Melbourne High I was just trying to fit in, but now I understand I need my own personality and my own identity.

This year was a pivotal year for me. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. Coming into a new school, a school where everyone was smart, where everyone knew what they are doing and what they wanted to do, was a challenge. To say I was afraid and unsure of whether I could cope would be an understatement. Having failed classes last year, I came into Melbourne High with a new attitude, to try my best and give everything 100 percent, and while I didn’t achieve that completely, I did learn something else instead. I learned to speak up and use my voice, whether it be for a project or an environmental strike. I learned to be brave while exploring this new unknown. I learned to be empathic and to understand that not everyone is as lucky as I am. I learned to appreciate my family and my community for the support they have provided me. I learned to be patient and determined. I learned to practice my skills and have enough willpower to believe in myself. I learned to use everything I learn in every aspect of life. I learned to have my own identity. I learned how to grow.