Journey Essay : My English Journey

Upon entering Columbia College, writing was one of my weaker areas. It was very important that I gained the necessary knowledge and confidence to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to express myself and felt as though my writing was not my interest. As a result of taking English 101, I have gained a better understanding on how to properly research and build a satisfactory paper. Every paper that was assigned seemed like a struggle to complete. Before entering this class, I did not know the meaning of a thesis or why it was important, however, I obtained this skill quickly. I noticed that every paper has an argument and the thesis helps clarify the rebuttal. Now, I have a new outlook on writing. It’s a way to express my thoughts and allow others to see things through my eyes. There is no doubt that I still have a long way to go, but I know if I continue to write, I will get better. Just as I developed more skills in class, the various papers assigned helped to better structure the writer in me. In addition, the subject areas were not only interesting, but very informative and made it much easier to write about my experiences.

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

The impact both reading and writing have had on me throughout my school years has always been changing. While I have always struggled with reading comprehension, and anxiety in putting my thoughts into words when writing, I have found some relief when I am able to connect to a character in a book, or given freedom to find a topic I am interested in; which makes me excited and passionate about sharing my thoughts through writing.

English in its entirety can be simply described as author, biologist and physician, Lewis Thomas had once said, “We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature; we play the music; we change our minds; we reach an understanding. Society evolves this way, not by shouting each other down, but by the unique capacity of unique, individual human beings to comprehend each other” (Thomas 120). The impact literature can bring onto others is simply amazing and is a gift that should be shared with everyone. This spring semester has quickly broadened my perspective. Being that this is my freshman year in college I prodded around ideas of what majors I had interests in. I

In my English 1010 class, I have learned to do a number of things through writing essays. I have written a Literacy Narrative, a Discourse Community Analysis, and a Writing Research essay. Firstly, I have learned to identify how an author’s purpose, audience, genre, and context determine effective writing. The purpose of the literacy narrative was to help me understand myself better as a writer (Jones 1). My teacher was the intended audience of the narrative. The genre of the narrative was non-fiction by cause of it being about my experience as a writer. The context of writing made my writing more interesting and more effective. Knowing those elements helps you to compose writing that is more effective due to you needing to know what you need to write about and who is receiving your writing. I displayed these skills by going into detail about my experiences with reading and writing through my life. As shown in the following sentence from my literacy narrative I shared how fun and exciting it was when my second-grade class received the opportunity to write a book, A Book of Future Astronauts, “Everyone in the class was truly excited to be writing our own book,” (Writing is Good).

Although I have not appreciated writing like I should, it has increased my knowledge on many subjects. From reading vivid stories to reading elaborative articles on difficult subjects, I've developed the skills necessary to understand at least the minimum that is required to continue through the subject. Because of this, I appreciate what I've learned from reading and writing countless short stories, elaborative essays, and reading books on subjects I am interested in.

English language learners (ELL) consisted of 22.3 percent of the total enrollment in California public schools (Facts about English Learners in California - CalEdFacts, 2015). Tends to be ignored or receives not quite the equality in education as their Native English speakers (NES) counter parts. Over the past few years there has been a surge in dual language immersion (DLI) programs (also known two-way immersion), which have resulted in much success (Lindholm-Leary, 2012, p. 256). It has been found that students in DLI programs show a high level of bilingualism and by biliteracy as well as academic achievement and cross-cultural competence (Lindholm-Leary, 2012, p. 256). Since the population of ELL students in California is so high it would appear that the best way for ELL students to get an education that is equal to their NES counterparts more DLI classes should be implemented. By applying more DLI programs California can benefit both their ELL and NES students in academic development and cross-cultural competence, which will help reduce prejudice and racism in the state.

Once again, Marian’s English department has taught me how to do that. During grade school, I had to write essays and give reports, but I never really went beyond what the rubric wanted, especially with the essays. I had a formula that I followed on every essay, and although I always got an A, I never appreciated how important good writing was until sophomore year when we had to write our research papers. At the start of the paper, every paragraph I wrote was closer to flowery prose than academic writing, but with the help of Miss Royal, I was able to transform it into academic writing that focused on informational content rather than flowery prose-like writing. During the last two years, I have had to integrate my ability to write academically with my ability to write critically. Beyond that, my ability to communicate verbally has also been improved by the English department. Although I have always been good at public speaking and never been afraid of it, the many oral reports I have given have greatly improved my style of presentation. In particular, the quarterly book reports we did with Miss Royal enabled me to refine my style to be focused more on the meaning of the book, not just the characters and plot. The ability to write and speak well will inevitably be

Expression is the process of making known one’s thoughts or feelings. My process for writing is laced with confusion; Confusion towards a product I am happy with and proud of, confusion towards which steps to take and when, confusion about if I am processing my literature correctly. As a current college student, one would hope I had grasped the concept of how to write an essay long ago; to write a complete essay in one sitting is an elementary skill for most. However, as for I, at age 18, 2 and a half years of college years to reference and an abundance of information to recall from a freshly passed high school, have yet to master, or even intermediately understand, how to properly produce a piece of

My experience with writing has been very up and down because I have a hard time focusing on the topic. I would say that’s something I need to honestly work on because my attitude is if I'm not into it then I'm not doing it simple. Some of my past teachers in high school said that I could write but I honestly don’t know about now. I'll admit that I've gotten lazy in the sense that if I'm not into the work then I'll just pass it with a D or just retake it. I need to get out of that and just suck it up and get it over and done with.

I started writing my first real essay in the Eighth grade, and I never knew why I was given such an awful task. I am a terrible English/Writing scholar and I never could comprehend the concept of writing. I put a lot of work and heart into my first essay, but that still didn’t get me the grade that I wanted. Needless to say I got a “D” on the essay. I was extremely disappointed in the grade I made and I wanted to reject writing all together, but that is not the kind of scholar I am, so I began my journey during my Eighth grade year to become a better writer. I had many academic goals that year, but my main goal was to excel on the English state writing test at the end of the year. The test would determine if I moved on to ninth grade English or if I would get placed in a pre-high school English program. To achieve my goals I knew that I was going to have to work hard not only on developing the papers I write, but also making sure they are grammatically correct, interesting, and that each story or essay gets the main point across as well.

1. Define the three energy pathways. For each pathway, identify two exercises that utilize the pathway. If you were training to run a marathon, which pathway would be the focal point of your training? What types of activities would you incorporate into your marathon training and why? How will an understanding of energy pathways help you in your future training endeavors?

Coming from a completely a completely different side of the world where a completely different language is spoken, distinct cultural norms exist, I had to relearn what I previously knew so well. I would like to think of my writing journey as being divided into three stages of school, Elementary, Middle, and Highschool. Each stage equally important in bringing out my faults and mistakes in understanding the English language and ultimately leading me to unlock my full potential as a writer.

As a very small child I don’t remember too much, but the things that I do remember were seen through a child’s eyes that has made me the person that I am today and I will always have those memory’s with me until my last breath on this earth. In this essay I intend to show how my childhood and adult life to this point has influenced my life, my journey. By utilizing the adult development theories from this class I also intend on showing how they relate to my Life experiences and where I am today as an Adult student.