Personal Narrative : A Semester Of Learning

I have truly enjoyed writing for most of my life and after this class I will continue to enjoy writing hopefully with more skill. I have always viewed myself as a fairly strong writer and this class has reaffirmed that for me, but it has also shown weaknesses in my writing. As an introduction level class this has been one of my favorites; at some point I will take a higher level, even though it is not required for my major. Even though this class is almost over I am continuing to learn. I also love that this class will help me with literally ever other class in my college career. I am not a particularly strong reader, but as my writing skills improve so do the reading skills. While in this class I have learned a lot about everything from what I can improve, to subjects that interest me, and constructing a successful paper.

I started drawing when I was 16. I was cursing 10th grade, or how is called in my country, Dominican Republic “Segundo de Bachillerato”. It was recess. I was alone in my classroom that day, besides two or three people who were just killing time there, and I didn’t had much to do with my time. I was at the last book of a series of books which names I can’t remember and If I recall correctly the last book was very boring for some reason so I didn’t wanted to read it anymore. So, looking for something to do, I stood from my seat and walked boringly down the aisle of chairs and that was, not my first interaction with art, but the first time I remember i liked art or paid attention to it. Yerkis, a guy of my class: short, chubby and well mannered

The three things I learned this summer was that I just have to read every once In a while and I understand stuff. Reading this summer has improved a lot in my opinion. I can follow along with the professional reader when he reads and I can follow along with my pen when Mcgee reads, so that has improved since the school year. Also that our teacher can talk about things and actually make you think a little bit. Just when he does the little kindergarten impressions, he makes a really good point. He makes you think in depth which I think is a good thing.

I had always assumed that my legs were strong and that I had decent muscle control, however, this thought was proven wrong at the beginning of my junior year in high school due to a detrimental injury. It was the first game of fall league for basketball, and within the first five minutes I had succumbed to an injury. Tearing my ACL and Meniscus has taught me to continue improving on my strength, not let this one injury keep me down, and to keep a positive mindset.

At 11:15 on Monday, August 17, 2015, my first official college class, English 1101, began. In general, I had no idea what college classes would be like let alone how college English would be. Even though this class taught me a great deal in one semester, it took a large amount of time and effort to make the adjustment from high school. The simplistic writing style of high school was put to rest the moment the first college English class began. As a result, I learned quickly that college writing is complex and less systematic than high school writing. Five paragraph essays with three strict body paragraphs were no longer the norm for writing. Even though my professor helped guide my writing, I was no longer coddled through the whole writing

In this class, I have learned many new skills to improve my writing, and I have also learned new grammar rules. In regards to my writing, I have learned the importance of freewriting when beginning to write a paper. Additionally, I now know to allow ample time for revising and editing because I can look at my work critically for mistakes and make necessary changes. Furthermore, I have learned about grammar rules such as pronoun-antecedent agreement. This rule is something that I know subconsciously, but being made aware of it has allowed me to find mistakes I make more often.

I believe I have grown a lot since the beginning of this course. My writing was severely lacking grammar and punctuation. I didn’t use any punctuation other than periods and very few commas spersed throughout my papers. My papers still need help in that area, but I have improved. I now know where they need to go and when it’s appropriate to use them. My papers aren’t exactly flawless but they are better than before. I would write how I speak at times and I knew it wasn’t right, but I would still do it because it allowed my papers to flow better in my mind. I read my papers out loud to help avoid my problem with writing how I speak. I’ve learned my writing style in this course, or lack thereof. I found a program that would benefit me now and

1. The 2nd case study made me reflect on my first head coaching job in football. I was hired by a school in south Texas with the help of a friend I coached with in Oklahoma. He had moved back to his hometown and started teaching and coaching at his high school. He contacted me about the opening and two months later I was hired. I hired him to be one of my assistants and even made sure that he was paid well as a thank you. I was very disappointed with the way he coached that year. I had already make arrangements to move him to a non-coaching position for the next season. I realize I never spoke with him about my expectations or made him aware of how I felt during the season. I identity with Dr. Skinner is some regards. I was caught up in the other aspects of teaching, coaching, and AD duties, I neglected to take care of that issue. I understand that it is OK to hire a trusted colleague or friend but the expectations of them should not be any different of anyone else.

While not a hugely transformative venture, I have found this semester to be a good vehicle for making my writing more accurate to its intended purpose. Prior to taking this class I did have some experience in professional writing for a few of the jobs I've had in the past, but this class organized those thoughts, gave them name, and pointed out where and how to pursue them. Its been an enlightening experience and provided me with tools I hope to use the rest of my life.

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

In the course, along with facing communication issues I also faced personal responsibility problems. I failed to proofread a lot in my essays or I forget to go back and fix errors that were pointed out in my previous rough drafts. For example, in my last essay “Solutions to Solve the Refugee Crisis” in which I wrote about the international migration of Middle Eastern war refugees. As I continued to go on in my second paragraph I wrote “more than 1 million displaced people from war-torn Syria…” (2017c, p. 3). The problem with this sentence is that I was told in a previous draft to write out one million instead of using the number, but lack of personal responsibility on my part lead to that mistake still being in my final draft which lead to points being taken off. That sentence exhibits an extreme lack of personal reasonability or care that I did not want to give off to the reader or professor. Next with that same final draft I had another flaw in my body paragraph. With the sentence “Islamic extremists managed to put on facades as refugees and have managed to slip into Europe” (2017d, p. 3), my use of the word ‘managed’ was very repetitive and gave a

Throughout the conversation, Susan did not inform me that the home was still in First Look and not open to investors at this time. Susan did not highlight any features of the home, nor did she talk about the neighborhood or the surrounding area. When asked, Susan paused to reference the property file and stated, "In looking at the pictures it appears that it needs interior paint, carpet, appliances, and a few windows, which the previous seller must have taken." She stated, "I don't know why they have to remove things from the homes." I asked, "Do you have offers?" She paused to check the property file and answered, "No offers." I asked, "Is the property behind the home farmland?" She paused to reference the property file and replied, "It appears

I can still remember my heart pounding out of my chest. It was my first time in Writing 1, and my nerves were mostly the result of a friend’s advice. Winter quarter, my friend told me about her struggles in her writing class and she advised me not to take Professor Bernstein for Writing because as she said “he is really tough and a very hard grader.” However, I had no other option but to take writing with Professor Bernstein because all the other writing 1 classes conflicted with my schedule. Nevertheless, nine weeks have past since I first stepped foot in Writing 1, and I can certainly say that I have learned more than I ever expected. Yes, it is true, this class has been a challenge like no other, especially for me, being that English is

I am ecstatic to begin my journey in nursing school. There are a few things one would need to know to determine just how passionate I am. The subjects that make me most excited are people that have inspired me, past experiences with online classes, and the possibility to challenge my mind within the classes I am taking. As I begin to think about elaborating these points I feel enthusiastic for my future. I cannot believe nursing school is finally here!

English 101 was a challenging course. A constant stream of reading and writing lead to a demanding yet rewarding semester. The variety of texts read and written about provided a plethora of life lessons and demonstrations of values. Now at the end of the course I find myself a better student and writer. The texts themselves were not influential to my growth as a critical reader or college student. Rather, it was my own analysis of the texts that allowed me to consider other perspectives on technology use in the classroom and the importance of revision when it comes to school work.