College Writing : My Favorite Experience

In Dan Berrett’s article “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing”, published in the Chronicle of Higher Education on March 21, 2014, the author describes some issues regarding writing that first-year students face. Berrett claims that “the students’ notions about writing” do not meet their instructors’ expectations. I, as a freshman in university, agree with most of the author’s ideas. However, there are flaws in the article, which make it less convincing.

Throughout this course, I was able to assess and evaluate my weaknesses and strengths in writing. This class has truly brought out my ability to write, a skill I did not believe I had. I now know what it takes to become a college-level writer. Also, at the beginning of the course I did not particularly enjoy writing. Now, however, I have a greater respect for

College is almost all writing there is always that essay, journal response, or research paper to write. I think this class will help me tremendously in college as to how to construct a piece of great writing. There are many things I think I do well with when writing. For example, I like to use creative word choice and spice up my writings a bit. I also like to have my writings proofread by others which has benefited me in learning about some things I can use to my advantage to get better at. I do have a few weaknesses in writings as well. I have never been the best at punctuation and sometimes have a difficult time writing to prompts that I have to explain something. I think this course will be able to help me with my writing struggles and give me knowledge that will only help me in my future to come in

Writing is something the vast majority of college students are familiar with. Because they do a lot of it. College professors use writing assignments to help them determine whether or not their students understand the course curriculum because you can’t write well if you don’t understand the topic in which you are writing about.so with that said, if you bemoan the very thought of having to complete more than a few writing assignments, college could be very stressful for you. That is unless you decide to become a better writer. It doesn’t stop at college either, most employers consider it an essential job skill one of which could hold you back in your career if you're terrible at it. think about it, how do most businesses communicate? Through

y experience as a writer before this semester of college writing one, was almost non-existent. The best training that I had before this class was an internship while I was preparing to separate from the Army. I had the opportunity to work for a marketing company in Fayetteville, NC, called 219 Group. My Army unit allowed me to do so, and the internship ended up being a terrific experience. Most of my work involved social media marketing, but I was also able to write a few blogs that were posted on clients websites. The blogs were used to improve the websites Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The only basic requirement was to stress certain key words that I had to use repeatedly, and since nobody read the blogs it was a perfect job for an intern. Besides the internship, I did a little writing that was required for my job in the Army. The Army has a particular writing style that is very different from college writing or any essay writing. With very little experience and training in writing before my college writing class, what little writing I managed to do, was not the best quality. I had many faults and difficulties, too many to mention is a short essay. Although, I still have many difficulties as a writer, I have made significant improvements with just one semester of college writing. In the following paragraphs I will mention some of the writing projects that were completed during the semester and the revisions that I have made. I mention in this paper and provide in my

The light grey, concrete building rose from the ground, looking like something out of a dystopian novel. I was rapidly approaching Herter Hall, where my dreaded College Writing class would take place, with an overwhelming urge to turn around. I was so anxious because up until my first semester at college, writing had been synonymous with pure stress. In all of my previous writing classes, I was either assigned literary analysis papers, or papers on the same controversial issues (gun control or the death penalty). Furthermore, I was always instructed to follow a very specific format, which made my essays very repetitive. After four years of writing nearly the same essay, I had become very frustrated because my creativity and perspective was being confined. Despite my hatred for the class, I considered myself to be a decent writer. Seldom did I get lower than an A on an essay in high school, and most teachers gave me praise for my insightful analysis. That being said, I knew college writing would be more difficult than high school, and I was nervous because I severely lacked revision skills. In the past, I would become very partial to my writing and turned a blind eye to poor sentence structure, organization, or style choices. As a result, my essays were generally only looked over for grammatical errors.

I knew the likelihood of passing the University of California Analytical Writing exam was zero to none. I have always had trouble writing, even though in my high school English classes I received mostly A’s for my writing assignment. The teachers concentrated on whether the students understood the concept, not on the essay clarity. So, I knew I lacked the proper writing tools for the exam. It was surprising I failed my exam and needed to take the College Writing R1A class I was a bit upset but knew it would be greatly beneficial at the end.

Walking down Loras Boulevard with ease at the beginning of the semester to the bookstore for my first writing assignment, I captured my initial perspective of the College Writing course. My thoughts were it would be a smooth transition from my high school writing courses, and I would glide through the course with ease like my downward strides to the bookstore. However, over the past semester I have never been more challenged and intrigued by course material and assignments in a writing course. As I conquered the steep, upward hill of Loras Boulevard it portrayed the knowledge I already possessed, the new writing skills necessary to succeed in the class, as well as changes and growth in my writing style.

My first undergraduate level college writing class provided me with a great deal of knowledge not only about the multi-dimensional writer the class formed me into but also about the writer who I used to be through the various diverse assignments we completed this semester. My first essay of the semester was a personal essay about my experiences on a given day. At first, I found my first assignment somewhat challenging due to the struggle surrounding the goal of not sounding like I was just listing of my day. My goal was to be as descriptive as possible and persuade my audience into feeling like they went through my day with me rather than reading about it. Looking back onto the progression of our essays I now understand why the Personal Essay was our first. As writers we needed the basic tools of being able to write with descriptive power, active voice and structural correctness in order to excel in the next essays to follow. The first essay contributes to my future as well by engaging the importance of an active voice in writing which in turn provides a confidence for the author that will reflect in future works. The second essay over the course of the semester was the compare and contrast essay. The compare and contrast essay consist of closely examining the similarities and differences between two related podcasts and forming a clear thesis statement. This essay created a complex task for the writer in terms of organizational skills and ability to form a thesis based upon

Our Senior year is the one that makes memories and major changes in our lives when we grow up and move on to bigger and more exciting things. One of the biggest changes I have seen in my growth this semester was the way my writing changed and evolved into a stronger element able to be used when heading to college. This course made my writing stronger which prepared me for college and for future jobs. This course is one I would recommend for the freshman to take to help them prepare for college writing requirements. The biggest changes I noticed in this course was taking out informal language, making stronger thesis statements and eliminating the wordiness in essays.

High school did not prepare me for college. College requires students to develop a work ethic, as well as adapt to the use of textbooks, essays, assignments, and test. Typically, in high school my teachers gave me rubrics that were the blueprint of my assignments and a grading system that limited my potential because it taught me to do only enough to get by. High school teachers spent their time directing me on procedures instead of teaching critical thinking, which would be the reason later for my unpreparedness in college.

Upon arrival in to college many writers, including myself, feel like they have a solid background on writing, especially when it comes to essays. Up to the point of being a college freshman we have written countless number of essays, with various styles and topics, so it is safe to assume that we are a good writer. But are college freshman actually noble writers? At first glance, it may be hard to believe, but fresh out of high school most students are nowhere near their greatest potential as a writer. Although you may have gotten an A on all your five-paragraph high school essays, this is not what college writing is about. During the first week of the term in writing 122, my class had a discussion on why we were taking this class. Many listed off reasons that in short summarized to them taking it to fulfill a requirement. Obliviously, I agreed with these people. Being my first term in college I got told what classes to take, including writing 122. That being said, I never really thought about why or how I ended up in this class, I just knew someone told me to take it, therefore in my mind it was a requirement. Reflecting on the term, I am so glad I took this class.

As an incoming freshmen college student, I think that college writing will be much different from what you have experienced in high school because when I got to college it was a little different but somethings were the same. In order to be successful in college with your writings I suggest that you always ask your professor the questions you have so that you don’t struggle, know your assignment before you leave the class, and make sure you fully understand what is to go into your piece. I would also say that one of the most important things to keep in mind for your writing is to stay positive throughout the entire piece so that it will have a better attitude and will be able to flow properly.

In my first semester of college at Saint Leo University, seeing that I had to take and academic writing class gave me chills. After taking high school English classes where you are constantly writing for a grade and to please the teacher’s idea of what good writing is, I couldn’t help being concerned about what a college level writing class was going to be like. Teachers in high school were constantly trying to tell you how to write their way and perfect what they thought was good writing. Little did I know everyone’s writing style is good in its own way. This academic writing class proved to me that no writing style is right or wrong, but instead all writing styles have their own uniqueness and character to them. After reading the assigned articles and analyzing the writing process and other topics discussed in this class, I now see writing as an extraordinary process that is different for everyone. After writing papers and getting feedback, I saw where my writing lacked solid evidence in my rhetorical analysis paper, and I also found certain ways I can write more efficiently in my process analysis paper. I also learned how discourse communities functioned and how genre is something completely different than what our K-12 teachers have taught me for so long. The goal of this class was to help me; see writing as a process, adapt my ideation, revision and products to improve my writing, and develop my critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. I believe I have achieved

As a high school student, all my writing projects, or essays seemed meaningless. Always following the five-paragraph format, as well as the cheesy “hook” sentence that I was never good at. Throughout my four years of high school, I never felt my writing was getting any better. Fortunately, in just my first three weeks of college, I feel I have grown more than ever. Receiving more help with my writing, and more feedback than ever before, I’ve grown more confident in my essays, and expressed my appreciation towards real and meaningful writing topics, unlike the ones I had in high school.