In our Integrated Humanities class, we were given an opportunity to write a mini extended essay on a topic of our choice. We were given about a month to write this essay, including class times, which was sufficient enough for me to complete the essay.

My essay was on the importance of recycling in South Korea in terms of sustainability.

Throughout the entire process of planning, writing, and fixing this essay, I was able to not only understand more about my essay writing skills, but also realize that there are more aspects in writing the essay other than your writing skills.

I have learned the significance of having clear and explicit argument because without this, the essay will only have details, thus not responding to the research question. During the discussion with Mr. Sharry after the submission of the essay, I realized that in order to argue properly, I have to claim the perspectives of the people that I talk about in relation to the research question to show whether the research question is correct or not.

Moreover, during the process of constructing the essay, I noticed that it takes a lot of time to research and gather information, especially when we were required to use at least one book. I somewhat underestimated the amount of effort needed for the research as I thought I could do the research while writing the essay, but now I truly understand how a proper and detailed plan is beneficial for writing the essay as it works like a guidebook that sort of informs you of the steps that need to be taken to complete the essay.

This exercise was definitely a good practice because not only do I know what my weaknesses and strengths are in essay writing, but also reminded me of the importance of choosing the topic that I am interested in.