In-Class Essay Follow-Up

My essay was not oriented around my Masterpiece, though the information I have accumulated thus far definitely contributed to my thought process while writing. My research on flow & happiness particularly shaped the way I addressed the last part of the prompt (which I actually chose to use as the foundation of my essay), as I define "success" differently now than I would have earlier. Don't get me wrong - I have always assigned value to the journey itself and not just to the destination but, prior to my readings as of late, I probably would have taken the word "success" as a measure of physical attainment like most people do. While I haven't believed this definition to be true--at least in terms of happiness, which is what everyone ultimately seeks--for many years, I most likely still would've have assigned it to the word "success" in constructing my essay, which would have drastically changed all of the other content that depended on it. Basically, I think I would have considered "success" a measure of wealth, fame, power, etc. dictionally, though not in practice if it weren't for my Masterpiece research... If that makes any sense... Anyways, I feel that my essay came together fairly well. I was a bit nervous about only having 40 minutes to try and create an essay that I would be proud of, but I think I managed to pull it off. I can't be sure though, as I began writing immediately after the prompt was revealed and continued until the very end of the period, leaving me no time to look back and read anything that I had written. I felt pretty strong for the first couple paragraphs, but hearing the 10 minute warning when I was barely half way finished admittedly rattled me a bit. I turned it up and managed to finish, but, in that frenzied state, I was not able to convey my thoughts as eloquently as I would have liked, and I imagine I probably made a few mistakes. It is what it is though; not to mention that, sometimes, stepping out of one's comfort zone is the only way to grow/advance, and I always relish an opportunity to better myself.