Reflection
I have been attending Virginia State University for one semester now, and ever since I came here I have learned more than I imagined imaginable. Since I have taken an English class every year in my life since the age of five, I believed I knew exactly what to expect. I was definitely wrong. When I began at Virginia State University, I assumed all my English classes would only consist of reading, discussing and then writing about “Old English”. Since that was what all my English classes consisted of in high school, I did not believe there would be huge difference at Virginia State University. I quickly discovered that there was much more to it.
With only one semester of an English class at Virginia State University almost complete, they successfully showed me way more than the English language; they showed me how to be me. Taking a glance at my previous essays I wrote in high school before I came to Virginia State University, I am now very aware how much my skill to write, reveal my thoughts, ideas, and intelligence has grown stronger in this course. I have learned here at Virginia State University how to write, how to be myself, how to ponder for myself, and how to locate the solutions to the problems I do not have the answers to. I learned how vital the English language is to everyday life.
There is never a second that goes by without me contemplating about something, but being enrolled in my first English class at Virginia State University, I am very proud to announce that as a result my critical analysis skills have significantly increased. Instead of concentrating on a proposed purpose, I have figured out how to constantly ask myself "why". I now actually dare myself to investigate an author’s work as acu...
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...em up. The first English class I took at Virginia State University had actually assisted me in removing that horrid impulsion and write an essay worth writing with improved ideas that comes with added support. I was taught how to write numerous styles of essays in a lot of various arrangements.
My writing has really improved in this writing course. This course has slowly taught and is still teaching me how to not write like I am still in high school. I do not make as many grammar mistakes as I use to. I have become a better proofreader. I learned a process to creating a thesis statement that unlike my other methods actually worked. I also learned a lot about the mechanics of writing. But, there are a few of things that I do believe I crave the fortitude and ability to achieve, and that is what I believe I will acquire continuing at Virginia State University.
Most of us write in some form every day, so you would expect that most of us would be well practiced and pretty good at writing. I read and write all the time; I have been taken several college courses and nearly all of them require write of some form. However, before taking this class not only was I not a good writer, I knew I wasn’t a good writer. Now I am not saying that I am ready to write my first novel, but I certainly more confident in turning in my college papers. The content of this course and the style of teaching was incredibly beneficial to me. Throughout this course we had multiple assignments that were aimed to improve us as writers. I am sure that everyone took something different from this course, and I am sure that each student took more from some areas than others; however for me there were three major things that I saw that I benefited from most. Our weekly craft lessons, grammar plan, but most of all, observational learning.
In general, I like this course because it taught me a lot of great things, such as how to revise the essay in order to make it better. My writing has improved a lot throughout this year, I learned how to organize my essay’s structure, using the transition sandwich to perfect my writing. In the future, I hope to continue developing all the skills that I learned in this English class, and I will continue to go to the Writing Center to ask for help to perfect my writing. However, it is the end of the year, but it does not mean that this is the end of my writing.
This trimester I began the class English 101 with mixed feelings. Depending on the topic and style, I could really enjoy writing. However, there were occasionally times where I just did not feel much inspiration, and consequently, my writing quality was not exactly remarkable. My previous course to English 101 was AP Literature, where I learned how to analyze writing and write powerful papers. Although, to my disadvantage for this class, the teacher was more concerned about content than presentation and grammar technicalities. I learned to create good ideas and responses, and while I did possess the ability to convey them with proficiency, I could not express myself at a college level. Nonetheless, I can happily report that I have acquired these skills throughout English 101, learning to curb my near addiction to prepositional phrases, in addition to halting my use of coordinating conjunctions to begin sentences. I find it pleasing to read and compare my first essay to my latest one, seeing all of the differences and enhancements. My writing has improved through the trials of in-depth analyses and short deadlines, enabling me to perform my best no matter the style or topic. Overcoming the oppositions found in the class and my own
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
He too quickly dismisses the idea of reading on your own to find meaning and think critically about a book. For him, Graff states that “It was through exposure to such critical reading and discussion over a period of time that I came to catch the literary bug.” (26) While this may have worked for Graff, not all students will “experience a personal reaction” (27) through the use of critical discussion.
I am currently taking college composition as a general education course. I am also an acting member of the Bodybuilding Club, and a staff writer for the Penmen Press. These three things along have improved my writing skills immensely. Writing is something I have always struggled with. Fortunately I have access to such a great writing staff that can critique me as well as an extremely passionate teacher, Mr. Wilbert. Not to mention the vast amount of resources SNHU has to offer like the learning center and of course an amazing advising
English has never been my best subject. Reading books can be exciting, but the writing aspect of English can be dreadful. Somehow, however, I passed all my advanced English classes with at least a B, and my teachers always considered me to be “above average.” My impartiality toward English shifted to an indifference near the end of my high school career; my indifference then shifted to appreciation. This appreciation is attributed to American Studies and Honors Writing, the most difficult English classes at Belleville East Township High School. American Studies and Honors Writing have strengthened my writing skills beyond what I believed possible. I still do not believe that I am the best writer, and English may never be my best or favorite
For my Final Reflection Essay I attempted to focus on the most obvious adjustments I made from writing high school papers to producing college level essays. This approach compelled me to examine a few of the papers I submitted in high school and look back on the steps I took to write them. By reviewing my previous work I realized that during Dr. Kennedys English 111 class I have effectively learned how to apply an outline, utilize research, and incorporate that research into my final paper. English 111 has helped me to understand the importance of the multiple steps of writing a great college level essay by forcing me to complete each step individually. My overall performance in this class has been above average and I have really demonstrated dedication to improvement.
This week, my group took our campaign for patient contentment to the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital. Since this hospital is religion affiliated, we decided to sing christian songs for the children. It was utterly amazing to see the looks on the kids faces who were filled with excitement as we sung with them and just spent quality time with them. A worker who was watching came up to us afterwards and gave us her upmost gratitude for coming to visit because it had made her day. We learned from our research that we cannot come off intimidating or look boring, so we kept our happy faces on for the time there; though it was really hard not to smile at the children. We got to know some of the children, how they got
It’s been a long journey for me, but it must end with the cycle beginning anew with you. Throughout this course, the most difficult challenges were dealing with presentation nerves and writing numerous thoughtful essays past midnight. Yet it always felt so rewarding afterward. The applause that came with presenting and feeling as if I wrote something special felt satisfying. Although, I would not recommend procrastinating, because of the abundance of homework. Also, Ms. Goodrum seems to have designed this course around preparing us for the future, not only academically, but to discover who we are as a person as we turn to adults. The books we read such as Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Hamlet, Beloved, all follow the growth of a character and deals with the theme of independence. In addition, it becomes more apparent at the end when we watched The Dead Poet’s Society and did Show and Tell. Originally, my plans for the future were focused on simply going to college and getting a job, but the course gave me a new perspective on pursuing
Over the course of this semester I learned a lot about myself as a writer. This English 101 class has really allowed me to expand my essay structure and ways of thinking. This was my first college writing course and it has given me much more freedom when writing because in high school I felt limited and like what we were writing was not very important. In high school I would write essays to just to fulfill the required word or page count and to a degree I still feel like this but maybe that is why I am an engineering major but in this course I actually was able to express my ideas and for the first time really test the limits of my writing capabilities. I really enjoyed being able to incorporate my voice more in my essays and I believe that I developed my own personal style a bit from this. At the beginning of the semester my writing was quite choppy and there was plenty of room for improvement in the overall flow of my essays. Now, I use several different tactics such as outlining to create better connections between paragraphs. I believe I was able to move beyond many of the high school ways of writing and make general improvements to my essays.
This February, I had the opportunity to chair a Valentine’s cards service project for the nursing home residents in my community. The main purpose behind this was to spread love to those who may need it. While I was in my Medical Assisting program at school, I was able to do my externship at an Internal Medicine office and work with a lot of elderly patients. Many of them garnered so much joy by just being greeted politely and acknowledged, even during a doctor’s visit. With two other members of National Honor Society, we were able to deliver the cards directly to residents during their entertainment. It gave me such a feeling of joy to be able to do something so simple, to bring happiness and love into someone else’s life.
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
Writing is an important part of everyone’s life, whether we use it in school, in the workplace, as a hobby or in personal communication. It is important to have this skill because it helps us as writers to express feelings and thoughts to other people in a reasonably permanent form. Formal writing forms like essays, research papers, and articles stimulates critically thinking. This helps the writer to learn how to interpret the world around him/her in a meaningful way. In college, professors motivate students to write in a formal, coherent manner, without losing their own voice in the process. Improving your writing skills is important, in every English class that’s the main teaching point; to help students improve their writing skills. Throughout my college experience I have acknowledge that
As my English 101 class comes to an end, I have realized how much I have transformed as a writer. In this essay, I am going to explain what I realized my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer and how they have manifested themselves throughout the quarter. I was skeptical at first coming into this class knowing that English takes formidable work and dedication, but I am very proud of the progress I have made. We completed a great deal of work throughout the quarter; from grammar exercises, summary reviews, and two challenging essays. Throughout the quarter I found myself improving in each category. As a writer, my skills and confidence have developed into more clarity and thought, something I have always wanted to be, as a result of a well constructed class that led to a superb educational experience.