My First Writing Class

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.

As the semester comes to a close, it is always interesting to look back and reflect on the events and opportunities my English class has given me throughout my first semester as a whole. At the beginning of this semester it was evident that I was feeling uncomfortable due to the adjustment that I was going through as a student moving to college. It was very difficult expressing myself through my writing since I was nervous about good impressions and my good grade. While this class was one of the most difficult courses that I have taken this far, it has become quite evident to me that I have grown a substantial amount as a writer and as a person; Especially, when it came to explaining my ideas, writing academic essays, and making arguments.

“The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year” reflected my writing experience while I transitioned from elementary writer to a critical writer. Sommers and Saltz write, “freshmen need to see themselves as novice in a world that demands ‘something more and deeper’ from their writing than high school” (Sommers and Saltz 134). This line highlights the hardship that most students face when trying to write successfully. My earlier written works were much weaker than my current pieces because I often wrote for the sake of passing the class. While developing my writing, I focused on the new ideas that were introduced rather than limiting my argument to familiar techniques and ideas. Because of my new attitude towards writing, I began to demand

Completing freshman composition is one of the greatest accomplishments I have achieved throughout my high school career. I have experienced an immense amount of improvement on my writing as well as a huge deal of stress throughout the semester. In the past, writing was never one of my strong suits; however, I have learned quite a bit, for example, how to use semicolons, write with metacognition, and how to correctly do a works cited. During my time in this class, I have: reflected, set goals, learned the writing process, tracked my progress, and learned a huge deal about myself, life and college.

When it comes to evaluating myself and if I am prepared for my first college writing course I believe that I am prepared to take my first college writing course. Before joining my ESC 021 class with Professor Kraft I felt that I was prepared and that I would be able to complete assignments without difficulty, but I was so used to the one on one sessions where I would go over the little mistakes or find ways to produce an exceptional essay that I forgot that I was own my own now. Through the short time in ESC 021 I learned my weaknesses and strengths as a writer. I now have the ability to receive feedback and effectively use my feedback to better my assignments.

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

Working a full-time job, raising children, and attending college are all not easy tasks, as many would agree. As a parent, I have difficulties in managing and prioritizing my time. Hence, I am forced to sacrifice many things, including my social life and spending quality time with my family. This semester I had to cope with many personal issues, including focusing on my English 1100 class. Amidst all that I am very grateful to my instructor McCaughey. Not only has he been super supportive but also definitely helped me grow as a writer. With his style of teaching and as well as a motivator, I tackled my writing issues. Through this class, I gained confidence and was able to learn about how to develop my ideas in a writing process .I learned

In Elizabeth Wardle’s journal, she discuses the differences between college writing and high school writing. Wardle often found that college students refer to their concepts that were taught in high school. As some students come to college well prepared in writing, other students fall short and don’t quite understand the concept of good writing. Wardle stated that many high school teachers focused on the technique and rules of writing, rather than using your knowledge and simply writing what you know. College students need to focus on their writing rather than the rules of it.

Intro to College Writing is about improving your writing and analytical skills. It teaches the importance of communicating, having creativity, and thinking critically. The teacher wants students to find something that interests them within the topic they are reading and writing about. The only things accepted late in this course are essays. They can be turned in up to a week later, but five percent is taken off every day. If a paper isn’t turned in, the student will automatically fail the class. Any form a plagiarism will result in being dropped from the class.

The first writing assignment helped to wipe the rust off of my writing skills from my undergraduate degree. Even though the length of the paper only spanned 250-500 words, I still treated the assignment as if it were a 15-20 page paper. The longer that I worked on the assignment the more I found that my skills Washington State University were quickly returning. Although the assignment topic was not specifically geared towards my degree,I found enjoyment in learning about something that I never would have. Simply put, I never knew writing in the workplace was such a problem! I cannot help but feel a higher level of sensitivity to finding errros in my own writing after reading the provided

During this semester, I have strengthened my writing by trying new writing techniques, learning about purpose, and finding new ways of combating writers block. My first essay in this class was less focused then the essays I wrote later in

I’m looking forward to this semester. I can’t wait to learn different skills to better help me develop my college writing. I tend to be really enthusiastic about learning, since throughout my entire life I looked forward to having a career. I want to develop a stronger vocabulary and writing to better demonstrate myself to others. This course will help me prepare for the examination dates coming up. In addition, this is my second semester at LaGuardia Community College; so far everything has been going great. It was a nice transition from high school to college, yet difficult at the same time. I had to start doing things like an adult and no longer like a child. I look forward to my experience at the community college,

As the year draws to a close, I reflect on what I have accomplished in my first semester of college. Not only have I grown as a writer but also as a person. This year was full of changes but I am glad that I remained steadfast in my beliefs and skills. While I learned things about myself in this course I also gained important writing and research skills.

Chapter 7 was enlightening and the chapter I was able to relate with the most thus far. For example, one part of the text stated that educators and families often set low expectations for students with disabilities. I can relate to this personally. When I was in the IDEA program, my classes were rarely challenging and my teachers generally set low expectations for my peers and me. I believe the reason for this was to not stress the students or push them past their limits. However, my best teachers were those who did push me to my limits, so I could set a new limit the following semester.

At the beginning of this class I was nervous on how this semester will go and whether or not I will succeed to my fullest potential in English. With that in my mind I still was trying my best to work at getting better, despite how much it made me cringe at the thought of it. My perspective of writing began to change as time went on, the assignments were based on interesting topics which made it a bit bearable for me. I’ve learned that you have to make the steps to get to the perfect paper. A paper requires you to brainstorm, make an outline, and writing your rough draft to get that feedback you need before finishing up that final draft. During this class I have also learned where to put my thesis and that I don’t need to have that three point subtopics of what you should talk about. The writing length started getting longer and I was a bit skeptical on how I can get to the word count or what will I talk about within my papers, but I have