After being out of school for over thirty years most of my expectations for any course were based on the fear of the unknown. Hell, I probably couldn’t remember the difference between a verb and a noun, let alone have to write a paper more than one page long, those were two of my fears of entering Room 268 in the Fisher Building the first day of English 111. Those fears quickly subsided, not so much as my fears were unfounded but that Dr. Matuka opened the first class by requiring us to interview a classmate, then recite the interview to the entire class. This is exercise alone made me feel more at ease with the class, my instructor and my fellow classmates, as many of the classmates were similar to me, grown adults. Our second assignment was to write a diagnostic essay that would be graded, however, not counted towards your class grade. This strategy by Dr. Matuka I believe was to give us confidence in our ability as a writer, with no pressure to perform for a counted grade. In my case I believe it worked, if I remember correctly I received an 87%, higher than I could have ever im...
Chapter two begins with a more then competent college student named Eva, who describes her first semester English class as completely nerve wrecking, terrifying, and extremely intimidating. Hence the title “The Student Fear Factor.” "The Student Fear Factor,” gives an insight of student’s fears, doubts, stress, and anxieties they endure while attending college. For example, Melanie who is a recent High School graduate compare the difference between High School vrs. College. She also makes a valid point about how important it is to becoming responsible, independent, and serious when it comes to college. For the mere fact that college is no joking matter and nobody is going to care about your GPA besides you.
In Jennie Capo Crucet 's essay, “Taking My Parents To College,” Crucet describes her own experience as a freshman college student who was faced with many challenges that were unknown to her, as well as the cluelessness of what the beginning of her freshman year would look like. I felt like the biggest impression Crucet left on me while I was reading her essay, was the fact that I can relate to her idea of the unknown of college life. Throughout her essay, she described her personal experiences, and the factors one might face as a freshman college student which involved the unknown and/or uncertainty of what this new chapter would bring starting freshman year of college. Crucet’s essay relates to what most of us
Entering this course I was worried because I have struggled with writing in the past, and writing has never been my strongest area. I feared writing classes in middle and high school, and had the same expectations for this course. I had wondered if I was ready for college English, and was worried that my skills and abilities would not be one the level they needed to be for college courses. My attitude and understanding of my writing process have both changed since the beginning of this semester. One thing that really helped my attitude and confidence was the fact that I was able to complete the assignments and get a decent grade. I was worried that I might not be able to do college level writing, and when I started completing the assignments and learning new ways to write my confidence and attitude changed. Another thing that really helped me throughout this course was that there was plenty of reading and information available to guide me through my assignments. I realized that there was more freedom when it comes to writing than I had experienced in high school. Being able to write more freely, and the freedom to choose what subjects I would write over made the assignments more enjoyable and easier to
‘I am going to fail’ was the very first thought that crept into my mind on that very first day of class. Before I stepped into the classroom on the first day, I felt pretty good about my writing. I had done previously well in English, and didn’t think this class would be much of a challenge. This all changed on the first day of school, when my professor talked about the level of reading and writing expected for this class. I remember thinking ‘I don’t read, why couldn’t I have been born someone who likes to read? !’
My first college English class was ENC 1101 at the State College of Florida. In this course, I learned a vast amount of information about writing, reading, and grammar. When I first walked into ENC 1101 in August, I expected the class to be like any other English class in High School; with rushed busy work and a lot of useless tests and quizzes. However, throughout each week of the semester, Professor Knutsen’s class made me beg to differ. This class was not like any other high school English class. In this class I actually learned important information and did not do work just to complete it. This class had a few assignments here and there, enough to maintain, in order to learn proper information. I learned a lot in this class because I was not rushed to
In Rebecca cox, “The college fear Factor: How students and professors misunderstand one another”, in chapter two of her book she writes about an expression she calls “Total Fear Factor”. She has conducted this study between community colleges in diverse regions of the country and with a diverse range of students. Most of the students experienced fear and anxiety while being enrolled in college. High school for many students was far less complex and hurried and because of that, stress plays a huge roll in a college students educational achievement and goal outcome. The stress of once being in highschool to now being in college has a huge toll on a students well being. College is now more stressful and
In the introduction to “The College Fear Factor”, Rebecca Cox provides examples of how students can find difficulty in succeed in college due many factors like the gap of communication between the student and the teacher, the expectations the teacher has are different from the expectations of the student, how fear is the leading factor for a student to fail is fear itself.
In conclusion, Mark Shiffman wrongly holds fear responsible for the decrease in students studying the humanities. Students today pursue more practical fields of study because the interests of human beings are ever-changing, prioritizing one’s passions is more difficult than determining their objective strengths, and one should focus on their various callings in society rather than striving solely for personal gain.
...eft for writer’s anxiety, my instructor explain to us that it was our writing assignment and that she would not do it for us. Generally speaking, her hard core style of teaching was in the least inviting, thus ended up being my favorite class. Most all of our class time was spent learning in a much assorted variety of styles that it was never boring. Each assignment plan and process brought me into the focus of writing allowing time to etch some learned values into my college agenda proving that my anxiety had been overcome and English 111 has made its mark on my life.
This course was the first course I took as an incoming freshman, as anyone could imagine I was scared and nervous at the same time. Also since it is a writing course; I was hesitant if I wanted to continue in the class because writing is very challenging for me as an immigrant. Returning from summer break, I found it extremely tough to continue where I left off with my writing skills from high school. The fear of writing that my old high school teacher instilled in me did not help my writing anxiety either. In contrast, I found that the professor and the course were not at all intimidating as I assumed, the professor took time from his busy schedule to help his students to further improve their writing and the writing topics were very stimulating and thought provoking. Composition 1 has helped me learn more about myself and my writing skills, which allowed me to further self-evaluate myself, find where I need improvement and become motivated to change.
Coming into speech class, I mentally and physically prepared myself for what was in store. I never really like giving speeches, especially impromptu speeches. Signing up for speech was hard for me to do because I absolutely did not want to take it and was considering not taking it in high school and wishing that I would never have to take it. My fears for COMM 101 was being judged. I am not really one to care about what people think about me, but something about public speaking gives me a fear that people will judge me if I stutter or not be able to complete a speech. I just wanted to do my best in this class and just breeze through this class and get it over with. Getting up in front of the class for my first speech, was petrifying for me
I can relate to Melanie’s first impression of college being unfamiliar, scary and life changing in college fear factor. When I started my first semester it was a lot different than what I was used to going from a one on one studying experience back to a class room full of students. Melanie states, “Individuals well outside the ‘traditional’ college age range also spoke of the stress of assuming the responsibilities of college” (24). Melanie’s point is that students of all ages experience some anxiety when first attending
I nervously opened the doors to my future, hoping for the best for myself. At first, I believed departing to class would be simple, but when the bell rang for the first time I had no idea what class room goes where and how busy the halls were going to be. Suddenly, the entire world around me scrambled to class, and on occasions bumping each other along the way; it was a widespread panic for most of the freshmen. Fortunately, I found some wonderful teachers to direct me to my rooms that I will spend the next year
I remember English class in high school and I thought it would be the same information so this class would just be a review and the hardest assignment would be to write a one page essay. I thought I could write any paper and make a A on it. As the time went by I realize this was not true. I started working on my attitude towards the class, what I learned and my weakness.
With my first semester as a college student coming to an end, I can honestly say I have gained so much knowledge and this has been a major eye opening experience. By being in your English 111 class, I have learned a great deal about myself as a writer and a communicator. English used to be a subject I took for granted because I always considered it to be easy and there wasn’t much to it. You have helped me realize that in order to write a good paper, it is important to have a deeper understanding of the many structures and usages; as well as a better understanding of yourself and your audience. In what seems like such a short time, I have learned about rhetorical knowledge, the writing process, oral communication, critical thinking/reading/writing, and digital technology.