English 111

Before starting English 1102 I was so excited because I knew who class I wanted to take; but, his class was full. I was a very sad cookie. Then my friend Josh told me her knew a professor that was better than the one I wanted and that I would love her class. I’m glad I trusted Josh and took this class. In my English 1102 class I evolved as a writer, experienced a lot of new things, made a few mistakes, and learned from them.

This year in our English 1010 class, we covered many different genres and types of writing. We covered how to write personal narratives, how to respond to other students and other forms of writing, and how to professionally write essays. Briefly, we touched down on how to write argumentatively and were also required to create an infographic, wish was probably my favorite assignment. Although I never thought of myself as a strong writer, I believe that this class has greatly improved not only my writing skills, but my thinking skills as well. This was my first English class to be taken through dual enrollment and I believe that it went quite successfully while challenging me as a writer.

My major, nursing, will require a great amount of communication skills. I believe English 1101 will help me further develop my communication skills. It is also very important to me to challenge myself and overcome obstacles to make myself a better writer. I found that high school English classes were moderately easy because there were no challenges set forth. I would rather take a class that makes me put forth hard work to earn a good grade and will teach me things I need to know to succeed, than a class I can get an easy A in that teaches me nothing. I hope one of the main principles I get from this class is how to become a better writer. I expect that this class will be a challenge and will teach me things I need to know to

Freshman year I had found a good group of friends that I felt comfortable around. I was building a lot of social confidence; I was determined to get that same confidence in the classroom. I had the mindset of putting my education before hanging out with friends. Speaking up in the classroom started to become more natural to me. I discovered I was good at mastering small details and became intrigued by specific topics like the creation of the United States Federal Reserve. Though I still am rarely the first to jump into a conversation in the classroom, I always look for opportunities to display the intellect I kept silent for so

Starting this year, I thought English 102 was just going to be another general education requirement I needed to have in order to graduate. English has never been my favorite subject, so I guess it is safe to say that I was not super excited about this class. However, this class turned out to be different then I thought. It turned out to be more useful then I originally thought. English 102 was both helpful and fairly simple because of what what I learned, the effort I put in and how prepared I was.

Over the course of time, I have learned that learning is essential if you want to be successful. Whether it is about life skills or school, learning is a habit that everyone uses in a way to become successful. One of my main goals is to obtain the most out of college so that I can input what I learn in school in the outside world. Meaning that I want to learn as much as I possibly can in any course, especially in this course. I expected this course to be a review of my English class during my senior year of high school, but I extended on what I had previously learned about English. As this semester of ENG 111 ends, I can say that I have improved skills that involve grammar, structuring a paragraph with supporting details, and opening my

English 111 was the first class English class that I have taken since my senior year of high school in 2004. When I first signed up for the class I figured it was going to be a bit difficult with reading assignments, I was not expecting to be writing 3 to 5 papers every other week which I found to be hard at first.

In English 111 I have struggled with many assignments over the course of the semester, picking myself up over time from countless mistakes on papers, to procrastinating on basic class work assignments. Before Fall semester, I had no idea what college would be like, or how hard it could be. Things were not the same as high school; it was different to a point where college seemed a lot harder than it was supposed to be. In English 111, I got the chance to meet new students and different professors that have helped guide me to success throughout the semester.

The course definitely changed the way I approached writing a paper. One day in lecture you quoted Ernest Hemmingway saying, “The first draft of anything is shit.” This changed the way I approached and wrote papers. I used to start papers the night before, barely look over them and making few changes. This course encouraged me to outline, write a rough draft and constantly review then finalization the paper. Peer review before this class I though was pointless because most student hardly pay attention to the paper and usually wrote “good job.” The students in the class actually read my paper and gave honest feedback and ways to improve it. Also to have a teacher read your draft and give feedback with what is wrong and ways to help the quality of the paper helped greatly. This English class was definitely different than high school English.

Throughout this semester in English 101, I have made a significant improvement on multiple things, including how to be an exceptional writer and thinker. English has always been one of my most favored subjects to study because to me it instructs students how to be intelligent, how to become a more creative and critical thinker, and be able to develop ethical values and imagination. You can express yourself more efficiently in English than you can in any other subject. This class has truly made me a more confident writer and helped me express myself in different ways through the different types of papers I wrote. By writing different types of papers I have improved multiple areas of my writing. I have grown as a student in diverse areas such

English 101 has helped shape my writing in so many ways. I have grown and became more confident in the skills I portray. In-class workshops helped me to receive feedback and new ideas from my peers. My view of English has changed drastically for the best. Along with my writing skills my reading and critical thinking skills have also improved. I learned the importance of using ethos, pathos, and logos. Putting text in dialog has been a struggle for me in the past but I now have a better grasp on it after taking English 101. I’m happy I had to take English 101 because it has helped prepare for not only English 102 but my other classes as well.

The dreaded English 102. Could this be my final English course in my career as a student? I don’t know for sure. I still need to decide what my major will be in. There is something that I know for sure, that is, needing to take this class to move on. I am not certain how my time in this class will go, but I plan to work hard to get the best grade that I can. Hence, I have decided to get this out of the way now, I look to fine-tune my writing skills, and I expect this course to help me understand my writing style.

My experience into English 111 not only left me anxious, it became a self-revelation. My learning capabilities were challenged because writing did not come natural and the possibility of becoming a prominent writer were going to take a lot of time, effort and hard work. In spite of not knowing what to expect, I entered into this new semester pumped up carrying an “I can do this” attitude and feeling confident.

I entered this class with a general idea of what was going to be expected of me and what I was going to have to accomplish in order to be successful, and I credit the extent of my preparation for this course to the extensive instruction and critiques provided for me by my high school teachers. By them I was taught the fundamentals of composition which allowed me the time and energy to more deeply understand the intricacies of good writing which I would be taught in college. Although I learned many new concepts in English 101, I feel as though I had a stable foundation to build on and enhance with more refined skills.

What did you learn this semester? The golden question from all friends and family members when you come home for breaks. One would think that since my first language is English, writing papers would be easy. It should be, but it is not. I have learned that my writing was not as good as I thought it was. I have learned that throwing a paper together last minute does not work as good in college as it did in high school. I realized early on in the semester that I have trouble analyzing pieces of writing, I can give a summary all day, but analysis is not a strong suit of mine. Sometimes teachers believe that we automatically know how to write, we are not born with reading skills. It would be hard to believe if someone said that they learned nothing from English 111. From English 111 I learned that summarizing is not the same as synthesizing. I also learned that I needed to strengthen my critical reading, thinking, and composing skills. I also gained a better use and understanding of rhetoric knowledge such as audience, purpose and evidence. In conclusion English 111 taught me to be more aware of my conventions in writing. I believe that I have gained knowledge in critical thinking, rhetoric information, and conventions from this semester that have strengthened my writing and I can provide examples to back the clause.