“Think, Think, Think”
- Winnie the Pooh

To represent my learning experience this year, I chose the quote, “think, think, think,” by Winnie the Pooh. Many people would look at this quote and see the simple meaning: I thought a lot this past year. It’s actually ironic to not think about a quote that says think three times. I went deeper with the quote and that in itself was something I learned to do this year.


Symbolic thinking was an academic tool I learned to use in my writing. To me, each “think” represents a time I achieved something greater so by the end of the year, the quote is complete. My first major project this year was called Why I Write. Straying away from my usual personal narratives and fictitious stories, I was forced to write in a different way. My predicament was that I had never followed the rule, “show not tell” and that was about fifty percent of what we were graded on. I tried my best to do well on the project and got a C-. My next major project was called Take a Stand and we had to write about an ethical issue that was a concern of ours. I did my piece on how mountain climbers are leaving people to die. I learned how to smuggle in facts and sound like a credible writer. I got a B-: my first “think” earned for improving my grade and mastering mature writing. My third project was the most important and symbolic one. We had to be creative and make a physical project on Frederick Douglass’ life. I continuously asked my teacher about different ideas, all of which were turned down because they sounded too much like a book report. I finally came up with doing a diorama that related not only to Douglass’ life, but also to modern day bullying today. We had to hand in a Writing piece as well about slavery in the world today. I wrote mine on a topic that really interested me; How Africa forces young kids to pick cocoa beans without pay. I poured my heart into the writing and into the project. At the end of that unit I ended up with a B+: my second “think” earned due to the fact that again my grade went up and I learned the importance of symbolism and how to express it through artwork. My next major project was when we had to read a book that was banned and make a presentation of our opinion on it. I read the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. I loved the book and in my presentation, I incorporated symbolism, facts, and I used pictures to express my feelings, not words. That project landed me an A+: my third and final “think”. This quote will always remind me of my achievements eight-grade year. Remembering a quote that is three words long will forever help my writing succeed.