I have a little fear that began in the fifth grade: writer's block.

Being a college student in a journalism-related major, it's actually quite ironic.

The very word sends a rush of stress and panic through my veins. To me, there is nothing worse than when you are under a time crunch, but just can't find the words to put down on paper.

Transforming the ideas in my head onto a blank page, has never come easy for me. Figuring out the best way to explain and effectively communicate a message through writing, is my biggest challenge. Once I finally get a paper off to a good start, writing is very enjoyable. However, it has always been an area of uneasiness that I have to work hard at.

One of my college professors has taught me a lot about what makes a confident, effective, and recognized writer. She gave me great assurance when she herself admitted writing is certainly not easy.

She explained that it takes diligent time and effort to become a skilled writer. Just like an athlete must practice a sport to win a game, so must a writer practice their skills in order to set their writing apart from the rest.

An interesting question she asked our class was why do we write? It was a question that truly stuck with me.

I thought to myself- do we simply write to communicate a message? To inform the public? To share an opinion? Do we only write out of obligation?

My professor took these common responses and stretched the concepts even further. She agreed that we write to achieve these certain things, but overall we should write to reflect.

Here are some interesting takeaways I gained from her lecture:

Reflection causes us to think back on events experienced or lessons learned, process them, and put them in writing.

Reflecting comes at the end of a task or event and doesn't occur until you have actually completed it. This ultimately makes us think about what we learned throughout the process and how we can improve in the future.

We actually learn in the stage of reflection.

When we write about something, it becomes real. The ideas and thoughts in our head become concrete and we feel as if we can process them better. In order to get thoughts out of our head, we have to stop and reflect on what helped us form those very ideas.

Reflection takes thoughts and turns them into a state of reality. It causes us to ask ourselves what could have gone better, what we learned, how we could describe something, or do something differently next time.

What if we all took a little time everyday to reflect on what we learned in class or who we saw throughout the day? What if we took time to reflect on our well-being, feelings, and emotions? What if we wrote these things down on paper to help us sort through all of it?

Perhaps it would help us grow in the best kind of way. Maybe it would help us better define who we are and intimately understand our everyday interactions and experiences.

Maybe it would help the ideas we have and things we learn solidify in our minds.

Overall, perhaps it would make us more fluent writers who can easily describe their thoughts on paper because reflection becomes second nature.

Writing reflectively is a term I had never heard of before entering college. I now realize how beneficial it is for the mind and personal well-being. It enhances our critical thinking skills, defines moments of learning, documents our experiences, and ultimately turns passive learning into monumental learning.

So the next time you may fall victim to a little writer's block, get all of the thoughts in your head out and onto paper. Do a brain dump of everything that is on your mind. Write about anything and everything until you can't anymore. It is the act and art of reflection.

May we all strive to reflect thoroughly on our lives through writing, and in doing so, learn even more about ourselves.

Who knows? Maybe it will even help you conquer a little fear.

Thank you Dr. Leggette for teaching me the importance of reflection and thank you Odyssey for providing me the opportunity to publish my own reflections.