Reflection About Maturing

The Basketball is an interesting symbol in the book. It (along with the gameboy) were the things that Bobby held dearest to him when he was a younger boy. At that age, he relied on those things (and his mother especially) completely. As he got older, and had feather, those things began to slip away. But that one day that Bobby accidentally leaves feather behind to go play basketball with his friends, he comes back in a

In addition, this book succeeds in terms of depicting real life situations to young children. As presented in the story, Reed’s father lost his job; thus, causing him to move back in with

“But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They’d be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end” (Johnson 4). Angela Johnson is the author of The First Part Last. Throughout the novel, Johnson shows us how Bobby goes through struggles in life and how he changes. Bobby just turned 16, he lives in New York City, and he get his girlfriend, Nia, pregnant. His parents are Mary and Frank. Feather is Bobby and Nia’s daughter who looks just like Nia. Bobby takes on the responsibility of caring for and nurturing Feather on his own. He wants to come of age and become a man based on evidence from the novel and symbols that are mentioned in it. The symbols to support this are, the basketball, balloon, arcade, and Just Frank. These symbols not only support that Bobby wanted to come of age and become a man, but he did.

Bobby, a young troubled man, Was raised by his father, a professional con artist after the death of his mother. From a very young age Bobby was exposed to the criminal acts of his father and was taught to lead the same path. When he turns seventeen years old, Bobby meets and falls in love with a girl called Gwen. She gives him a sense of identity and belonging he missed his entire life. During the same time he learns

Objects in life will represent different feelings to people, whether it be cheerful or unpleasent, however it is usually a mix of both, as Kwame Alexander highlights through the use of symbolism in the novel The Crossover. The reader can infer a basketball represents Josh's passion and love for the game as Josh states “My shot is FLOWING, Flying, fLuTtErInG OHHHHHHHH, the chains are JINGALING ringaling and SWINGALING Swish. Game/ over” (222). The excitement the reader feels is the same way Josh feels about basketball; an extremely happy and exciting feeling for the game. After JB and Josh’s amazing basketball game, the new girl from school brings JB a pitcher of sweet tea. Josh, standing right by them, says “and just like that JB and the new

As you can see, the previously stated objects that Bobby encountered, prove that Bobby did come of age by the resolution of this novel. The gameboy because he thought about looking for it, but decided not to. Which symbolizes that later on he gets to a point where he sees no reason in trying to remain a child. The basketball, represents how Feather grew up with Bobby as her parent because he properly came of age by the end.

This is one of the reasons I think Bobby has come of age. In the nextparagraph i'm going to tell another reason how Bobby has come of age.""The second reason to how Bobby has come of age is he is losing his old identity andgaining a new one as he is coming of age. In the book "The First Part Last" he spray paints awall. This wall symbolizes all his positive memories from being a kid all the way to when Featherwas born. Then Johnson goes on to say, "Finally it's just me and that thing in the baby carrierwho doesn't have a face" (pg.60). In this chapter he wants to find the baby's face but he can't. Ina few chapters after that Angela says "I climb the stairs and think about holding her, or maybeI'm really thinking about just holding on to her"(pg.75). He realized Feather is the missing piece inhis life and he wants to keep it that way and not lose her. He needs to lose his old partying anddoing whatever he wants identity and get a new mature and father like identity in order to dothat.This has to do with Angela Johnson's discussion regarding coming of age because he has tochange so much to be mature it's like he's gaining a new identity and growing up.This is anotherreason I think Bobby has come of age.

“I love coming of age stories that have struggle…” says actor Aaron Paul. The First Part Last is a novel that provides a prime example of someone’s struggle to come of age. In this book, Bobby and Nia have a baby named Feather. Bobby cares for Feather and Feather depends of Bobby. Bobby sometimes struggles with having to care for Feather because he feels like everything is changing, when in reality it is just him that is changing. Bobby and Feather live with Bobby’s mom, Mary, in New York. Bobby has changed since having Feather, but the question is, has he come of age? Throughout the book, Bobby changed and developed through challenges he faced. Bobby came of age throughout the course of the novel as symbolized by coffee, Just Frank and his corner, and the commercial jingles.

In conclusion, yes, Bobby is going through some hard times and we all have our days. Now we are all learning from our mistakes and we become better people from our mistakes cause we learn from what the consequences are. Bobby has become a more mature and "manly" and has started taking responsibility for his actions. I learned from this book that making mistakes is okay because in the long run we learn and grow from

Bobby, a teenage boy is on a journey to “come of age”, he must due to certain circumstances like his newborn baby girl, whom he is raising practically on his own. Bobby know that to be a good father he needs to grow up.

Bobby loved to play basketball, and once feather was born he couldn't play it any more with K-Boy and J.L. When he gets home from school and picks up feather from the babysitter he always sees his basketball, and it bugs him because he can't just disappear for a while to play a game or two of basketball. The basket ball represents childhood because " I lay my basketball down and it rolled out thee door into the hall way towards Mary's room," (pg. 23). This is representing childhood because he is always seeing it slip away from his

Bobby’s childhood, the basketball, rolled away. It left, leaving Bobby with only responsibility and hardship. If Bobby’s childhood left, then would there not only be the older ages. This shows Bobby has come of age by the end of the book.

This, also means that the ballon has another meaning too. The other meaning is that when she had handed this ballon to Bobby it could have meant that the baby has died or somebody has died and she wants to let Bobby know. This is the unique way that the ballon is a symbol and it represents coming of age.

Secondly, the characters in the novel, Bobby and Dr. Barney, teach that it is vital to hold on to hope because everyone has a future, regardless of the present and their past. Bobby shows things can change for the better with his discovery of his true home. Bobby announces at Six North that “This kid literally gave me the shirt off his back, the blue one right here and he didn’t know me from the Adam, and there ain’t no questions, without him, I wouldn’t have gotten this home. This new home” (Vizzini 317). Bobby lived in his car last year until a tow truck took away everything he had. Consequently, he loses hope and wants to kill himself. At Six North, Craig helps Bobby with a job interview. Through Craig’s act of kindness, Bobby learns that his true home is Six North where he is and welcomed and appreciated for who he is. Furthermore, Dr. Barney tells Craig about his personal experience with depression. He eventually reveals to Craig the secret to depression:

Within Sports Coaching Literature, it has been established that reflection is a generic term for intellectual and effective activities, in which individuals examine their experiences, in order to develop new understanding and intrapersonal appreciation (Knowles, et al., 2006). Research in this field has advocated reflective practice as an approach to professional development which positively impacts coaching effectiveness (Cropley, et al., 2012). This reflective report shall discuss, analyse and evaluate my own personal development throughout my first semester spent studying at UCFB, in order to develop new understanding and intrapersonal appreciation, and help explore my decisions and experiences, increasing understanding of