Example of Reflective Essay on Learning Experience


The format of a reflective essay may change depending on the target audience. Reflective essays can be academic, or may feature more broadly as a part of a general piece of writing for a magazine, for instance. For class assignments, while the presentation format can vary, the purpose generally remains the same: tutors aim to inspire students to think deeply and critically about a particular learning experience or set of experiences. Here are some typical examples of reflective essay formats that you may have to write:


A type of reflective essay often used by tutors as a strategy for helping students to learn how to analyse their personal life experiences to promote emotional growth and development. The essay gives the student a better understanding of both themselves and their behaviours.

Although you aren’t bound to a formal tone, it’s generally best to use a professional tone in your reflective writing. Avoid using slang or overly familiar language, especially if your reflective essay is part of a college or .

Reflective Essay Example About Life Experience

Reflective essays are a type of personal essay that examines a topic through the lens of thewriter’s unique perspective. They are more subjective about their subjects than an academic essay, use figurative language, and don’t require academic sources.

On Sunday, December 3, 2017, I delivered my first oral presentation on Janette, a peer in my Communicating Effectively course at Manhattanville College. The objective of the project was to familiarize yourself with a classmate, ask/answer questions provided by Professor Brosnan, and then share the knowledge you gained about the individual in a two-minute presentation. The presentation was required to introduce the classmate, what graduate program they are pursuing, why he/she is in the program, their long-term career goal(s), current occupation, favorite class, and an interesting fun fact. The oral presentations were done in the classroom without any visual aid, allowing you to use notes if preferred. By analyzing my 1 minute and 25 second presentation using the “7 Step Presentation Process” I uncovered my strengths and weaknesses as a presenter.

While a reflective essay focuses on its author’s feelings and perspectives surrounding events they’ve experienced or texts they’ve read, a narrative essay tells a story. A narrative essay might show changes the author underwent through the same conventions a fictional story uses to show character growth; a reflective essay discusses this growth more explicitly and explores it in depth.

As you go about deciding on the content of your essay, you need to keep in mind that a reflective essay is highly personal and aimed at engaging the reader or target audience. And there’s much more to a reflective essay than just recounting a story. You need to be able to reflect (more on this later) on your experience by showing how it influenced your subsequent behaviours and how your life has been particularly changed as a result.


Here are a few examples of topics for a personal reflection essay:

It sounds obvious, but the reflective process forms the core of writing this type of essay, so it’s important you get it right from the outset. You need to really think about how the personal experience you have chosen to focus on impacted or changed you. Use your memories and feelings of the experience to determine the implications for you on a personal level.

Example reflection paper thesis:

A Reflection upon my Writing I like to consider my writing process unique to that of other individuals. However, I know that my process is alike with most people. I personally am indifferent about writing and English. To me, I enjoy it because it is a great way for me to get my ideas out and it is a creative way to get people to see my side of a topic. In contrast, I do not enjoy because it can be tedious at times, and if I am not passionate about what I am writing it makes the process more drawn out. The feeling that I get when I am writing is dependent upon what it is that I am writing. As stated above if I am not invested in the topic then I have to personally find a way to get invested in it otherwise my will be subpar.

Reflection paper example statement for a body paragraph:

First and foremost I plan a day to write. Before I can actually write the paper I have to make sure my desk is clean and clutter-free. All of the essays that I have written were in my dorm room at night time. It is a necessity that I have a Rockstar energy drink and that I listen to country music in order for me to concentrate. I make sure I have all the texts that I may need as well as I make sure I have efficient background knowledge to be able to write intellectually. When I initially begin to write I focus a good amount of time on the introduction and thesis statement. In addition to doing that, I will do bullet points and write other key details for the outline. When I begin my rough draft it usually ends up being messy by the end. What I end up doing is rearranging the paragraphs to make the paper go more smoothly. Once I am done with the revisions I give my paper to my friend at New Mexico University to help revise my paper. He is usually really helpful because he gives me good criticism and he is a journalism major. Having good friends help with my essay is a blessing and a curse. It is great because I get more revisions and more opinions so that it makes the paper stronger. It is a downfall though because my friends can turn into a big distraction which makes it more difficult to write. Other distractions that I encounter are my phone, social media, and Netflix. All of which makes it hard at

I. Reflective Essay Introduction

With this essay I did try new strategies for writing. I came up with a small outline of what I was going to speak about in each paragraph. Previously, I would write the paper from start to finish. I did not think about how I was going to arrange the paper before going into my writing.