The self-assessment is a useful and accessible tool not only for examining one’s strengths and weaknesses, but also for developing a better understanding for who one really is. Featuring an endless amount of topical possibilities, self-assessments may range from evaluations of one’s artistic ability to considerations of one’s zebra riding skills. However, in order to achieve success in such an endeavor, one must examine and recognize all facets of his being – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and strive to both capitalize on his strengths and remedy his inadequacies. Writing is a unique topic in the sense that no matter how well-versed one is in the subject, he always has room for improvement. While my academic surroundings and personal activities have benefited my development as a writer, not even my mother, who has hammered grammatical rules into me since my infancy, has rendered me an exception to this standard. Such an upbringing has made me a talented writer, yet my improvement potential remains boundless, a fact that I must capitalize on throughout my college experience.

 Harnessing this potential should prove to be an interesting and difficult task because my greatest strengths and weaknesses as a reader, writer, and thinker are intertwined. On one hand, I believe that my imagination in each of these fields is my strongest suit. I constantly strive to spin my words in such a way that I can both surprise the reader and maintain his interest. The same holds true with my preferences as a reader in the sense that I favor creative writing that may or may not border on the outlandish. This creativity, coupled with sound grammatical techniques and a willingness to explore virtually any subject, gives my writing a style and flow that is uniquely my own. 

  Unfortunately, my creativity is both a blessing and a curse in writing, as well as in everything else I do. My spontaneous style often evokes my personality’s self-indulgent side, the one that wanders off on random (albeit interesting) tangents when it should be focusing more important tasks at hand. This self-indulgence also manifests itself in my writing through unnecessary wordiness, wild compound-complex sentence structures, disinterest in thoroughly editing my work, occasional tirades about the New York Mets’ pitching staff or Michael Jackson’s mansion in essays where neither subject bears any relevance, and a general lack of organization. However, as a fat boy enjoys inhaling dozens of luscious, onion-laden hamburgers at White Castle, I too take pleasure in indulging myself. As a result, I appreciate writing assignments where I am free to use as much fluffy language as I wish, as well as reading material that takes a similar approach. On the other hand, this renders reading and writing experiences that require concise language and attention to detail uninteresting and nearly unbearable to me. Fortunately, I understand that such writing has its merits and that in order to appreciate it I must give it a chance and make an honest effort to try working within its boundaries. 

The college years are not only a time of physical and mental maturation for students, but also for discovering who one really is. Self-assessments are valuable tools for finding one’s true place in the world, and reading, writing, and thinking in general can aid one in reaching this realization. As a writer and a newly instated college freshman, I hope to make the most of my opportunities and to utilize self-assessments like this to constantly evaluate my writing ability and my life as a whole