College Reflection

The first few years of college student’s lives are not necessarily the most enjoyable time, having to take the basic core classes. Unless someone is planning on getting their degree in something that involves the basic core classes like; Math, Psychology, any Humanities, or English. English has not been my strong suit and I know that I still have work that needs to be done to make me a better writer, but I believe that I was able to meet and achieve the goals and requirements of this Composition two class.

A freshman college level English Composition course aims to improve students' abilities with writing, critical thinking, mechanics and usage, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary. By studying English 101 at Luzerne County Community College, I will work diligently to improve in all of these aspects. My main focus is to develop skills specifically to create clear and concise thesis statements, strong and persuasive essays with cajolement, and to develop different perspectives on narratives and other essays. These writing skills may also improve my critical thinking and reading skills.

Composition 1, also known as English 101 or FYC (First Year Composition) is an entry-level course taken by a majority of college students to introduce them to college-level reading and writing. FYC is a prerequisite course at many colleges and universities and therefore must be taken before students can enter into courses specific to their major. Though FYC serves as a bridge to college-level reading and writing many students and even some compositionists (those who teach writing in a college or university) do not see the relevancy of the course and instead view FYC as a course with very little applicability within the majors and future careers of college students. Others, including Nathalie Singh-Corcoran, believe FYC is a crucial prerequisite course that does teach skills crucial to the futures and lives of college students. In her essay, Composition as a Write of Passage, Nathalie Singh-Corcoran first, speaks to the purpose and overall goals of an FYC course before explaining how the skills learned in FYC can actually be applied to the majors and future careers of college students.  From the very beginning of her article, Singh-Corcoran establishes a strong foundation from which she can reach her main audience, but, she fails to support her main points in the best possible way by a very sparse use of non-anecdotal or personal experience based evidence.

In Freshman Composition I learned what metacognition means, and how it applies to academic writing. Next I learned about textual evidence and backing up your opinions with research. *I expect this class to help develop my writing skills, as well as find my voice in writing, all together I expect this class to be challenging but rewarding. Therefore I have set a few goals for myself, my first goal is to step out of my comfort zone and research topics I have never heard of before. My second goal is to not second-guess myself on my writing topics and/or choices. Furthermore I expect great things to come from this

The most important experience that has positively impacted my academic performance is being in AVID for the past 5 years. AVID is an acronym that stands for advancement via individual determination, a college preparatory class that helps prepare you for college, get organized, and set goals. I have been enrolled in AVID since 8th grade learning how to become a better student, improving study skills and the way I communicate with the students and teachers around me.

Sophomore year I was told to go to a community college for a two-year degree. By my application to Ohio University, I picked the road that everyone thought I was not capable of. Although my transcripts are not perfect, especially my GPA and ACT score the reasons are complicated. The Tuesday of my ACT week I got into a survive car accident which left me with a brain swelling concussion. I had never taken the ACT and did not want to have October be my one and only time. Therefore I took the test anyway, which led to a horrible scoring rate. Although it was not my best overall I think that for having a concussion my writing was well done. Unfortunately my car accident injuries lasted for five months, leaving me busy and injured. I again took the

This semester I have grown as a student in the area of college readiness. This has allowed me to feel more planned for college. I have gained knowledge about college and how to prepare in order to be successful. In advisory we read a “college- going 101 timeline,” which provided steps on how to get ready for college. It gave me a list of procedures I can follow throughout high school. Some procedures it gave me where to; begin keeping a folder of important information, create a list of possible colleges to apply to, and attend a college fair.

As the Fall 2017 term comes to end, I look back on what I have accomplished in this class. English 102 – Composition II was one of the most challenging and toughest class I have taken at UW-Stout, but feel as though it has helped me to improve my writing skills. Even before the semester started the feeling of anxiety had taken over, as writing has never been my strongest skill, but stayed positive and confident I would be successful. Much to my surprise, my instructor, Michael Critchfield quickly addressed that this class would not be easy and amazingly changed my views of writing throughout the entire semester.

After a hectic first semester at the community college, I began to find myself. I realized that the four-year university I wanted to attend initially, would have not been a good fit for me. Being part of different student organizations and creating connections with my professors at the community college is what helped me find what I was really looking for. I wanted a place where I felt like I mattered and not a school with fifty thousand students where I would just feel like a number. The additional semester I got to stay home, I was able to do more research and find a university where I would fit in and connect with.

Over the past year Ithaca College has given me many tools to help me succeed after I leave South Hill. I learned how to manage having five different professors who all have unique expectations of me as a student. Every night I would mentally run through the next day and think what each professor wanted from me. I often had to prioritize assignments by doing what was due the soonest. Having relationships with my professors was important to me and taught me how to have professional relationships with people. The little things like addressing someone who I don’t know, proper email format, and how to shake a hand were all valuable lessons I learned dealing with so many different professors. I have struggled with some professors at Ithaca

During my journey and prior to attending College Unbound, I quickly realized that the Big 10 has always been something that I have implemented in my life but never thought about it. However, For the most part, I came to College Unbound already possessing a good sense of Self advocacy for myself and others, communication, Accountability, & collaboration.

For the 2016 Fall Semester, I am taking 16 credit hours. My classes include Ecology, Microbiology, Multicultural English, Research and Design in Psychology, and Physiological Psychology. The classes I am expecting to take during Spring 2017 are Physical Education, Cell Biology, Social Psychology, Research Analysis in Psychology, and a Literature course. I am involved in an experiment this Fall semester in the Psychopharmacology lab and will remain involved throughout the Spring. In the Fall and some of the Spring, we will be administering different treatments to rodent groups and observe the effects. For most of the Spring semester, I will be helping with the data analysis. Every week for an hour, I volunteer at the East Athens Tutorial Center,

If you ask anyone that has gone through any of our 90 master’s or doctoral programs you will hear three key words, innovation, collaboration and excellence. It’s not by chance that our graduate studies rank among the top nationwide and even international. Here is a quick fact that we hope won’t make you yawn:

As the semester started, I had set my mind that I was destined to achieve a lot. During the start of the semester, I had several difficulties writing English assignments especially in terms of grammar. During the first week of the semester, I sat down, organized my thoughts and comprehended that throughout the semester, I had to achieve all that I had planned for. As a student of English, I had planned that throughout the semester, I had to improve my skills as a scholar, writer and critical thinker. Now that the semester has ended, I can reflect all the semester activities to depict how my writing skills and critical thinking skills have drastically improved. This paper presents a reflection paper of how this

This essay taught me that I needed the composition course to help better prepare me for future college writing. I realized that I was not prepared. After completing this essay, I was not sure I could be a successful writer.