Personal Reflective Essay: An Application To Graduate School

From my first days at The College of Wooster, I can tell that I will be aptly prepared to have a successful future both during college and beyond. I’ll immediately be challenged and engaged by the First Year Seminar which will provide me with opportunities to make friends, engage in a topic of interest, and further develop my writing skills. In addition, this seminar will prepare me for college success.

Writing 101 has been a tremendous learning experience for me. It is not my strongest area, so it is my primary reason for taking the class. I took this Writing 101 class to improve my writing skills. In college courses, I have to do a tremendous amount of writing. Writing is also not my favorite thing to do, because it takes time, thought and research. The first week of class, we had to write the first assignment draft. I thought this class will be hard for me and difficult to keep up with the assignments. I disagree with my initial thought. The class definitely challenged me, but I learned so much. My expectation was to improve my writing skills. I would say I met that expectation. However, I feel that I need to continue to learn and perfect my writing to become even more proficient. I learned how to develop strong thesis statements, to conduct online library searches. I started WRTG 101 with a basic knowledge of the writing skills; now I know how to accurately use punctuations, I know how to develop unified, consistent and well-supported paragraphs, and I know my weaknesses in my writing.

The prewriting exercise I began with was freestyle simply because it was the first one on the list. I did not know what to start with, so I decided to make my life easier and chose the first one I saw. Like always my mind was blank and I did not know what to write about and then I coughed, this reminded me that all my little family was a little sick and began to write about that. Then I began write about a couple of things that I needed for class. The one that stood out the most was whether I should buy a digital voice recorder or not. I am not the best typist, so I had no problem with keeping my eyes on the keyboard and off the screen. I actually enjoyed this prewriting exercise because I was not distracted with grammar, punctuation, and spelling,

I have always been fond of science related courses, it was not until I took my lower-division chemistry course that led me to really become more excited for my intended major. My chemistry course allowed me to gain tools for the given coursework, but as well to broaden my mind in everyday scenarios. As challenging as chemistry can be, I was able to stay determined and use many resources to grasp the subjects that we were discussing. Having this determination and mindset to succeed in any tough courses, whether it be calculus, biology, or physics, truly allowed me to stay focused and work diligently to grasp the knowledge and become successful. Another key component that has permitted me to be able to work attentively is the Honors Program. The Honors Program taught me to challenge anything that may seem impossible.

What comes to your head when you think of writing? Personally, I think of a long dreadful process, that I am not particular too good at. Even though one half of my brain wants to hate writing, the other half realizes how important of a quality writing really is. Over my high school and middle school years I have learned many of my own deficits when it comes to writing. Attempting to over come many these deficits in my writing, I attempt to seek perfection in my limited strengths. I am going to discuss assets and weaknesses of mine, that make me believe that I am no better than just a average writer.

Assessing my work is rather easy for me. I am extremely self-critical, to the point, it difficult to be positive. I always hoped and had been told I write well, especially on the job. In this short amount of time during class, I have learned how “low-level” my writing truly is. I write on more of an eighth-grade level instead of at the high school or college level I want to. I have probably forgotten more grammar/punctuation than most people I deal with even know. My grammar/punctuation is laughable; I only remember the easy stuff. Even though I use the thesaurus regularly to improve my vocabulary, my memory seems not to retain it.

I was first inspired in obtaining a career in communications disorders during my second year of college. I enrolled at the University of California, Riverside under the neuroscience major, unaware that it was not the path for me. I did not feel passionate about majoring in neuroscience, so I declared myself undecided. Soon enough, a friend of mine introduced me to the major of ‘Communication Disorders’ and influenced me into taking an introductory course; after some arrangements, I was enrolled. While enrolled in the introductory class, I became further aware of the prevalence and incidence of individuals with speech, language and swallow disorders in the country. As I researched the different options that the discipline of Communication Disorders

Two years ago, when a professor suggested that I apply to the Honors Program, I was hesitant. I had previously entertained the idea of applying, but allowed anxiety and insecurities to prevent me from doing so. When I explained this to the professor, she encouraged me, stating that she believed the Honors Program would make my time at UH more rewarding by granting me access to a community of likeminded peers, and advised me to further reflect upon my decision. I am indebted to that professor; without her encouragement, it is unlikely that I would have embarked on this journey that has greatly enriched my undergraduate experience and given me the opportunity to grow academically.

Ever since I began reading as a small child, I have loved literature and the written word. However, even though this has always been the case, I originally was not a literature major when I entered Arizona State University. Instead, I began my college career as a Physics major. What I came to realize after completing some of the required courses for the major was not that I was not good at physics since I had done exceptionally in all my classes, but that I was more interested in reading the articles and writing the assignments for my classes than I was in actually doing research in the physics department. Therefore, even as I was pursuing an entirely different degree, my love of literature and writing was still fundamental to my learning, and it was this that eventually lead to me changing my major to English Literature. Coming to this decision to switch majors was difficult, however the experience was beneficial in the long run. Not only am I now enjoying the work I am doing as a student more, I also understand that writing, editing, and reading critically is important to all disciplines. Had I not first begun my

As I sit here in the midst of the night pondering on all the things that have went wrong in my past. My priorities have been twisted and my vision has been obstructed; the truth hurt way too much to handle and when the real world hit me I was lost. Everything I had worked for was gone and the person I loved most was nowhere to be found -- it was just me, myself, and my notebook. My thoughts tended to unravel when they flowed in-between my fingers, the days flew by when I wrote about them and the weight from my shoulders were lifted off. This was therapy and my introspective journey had begun. Leading up to this point, my life was in disarray and I felt that I needed to take this time to reflect on my wrong doings, set my priorities straight, shift my perspective, and focus on my education in order for me to pursue the finer things in life.

First, thank you for your honesty and your bravery in posting this. As a few other posts in this course seem to attest, many people are uncomfortable with posting something potentially negative, or even positive, from their lives and their history and would instead either spurn off the idea and topic of the assignment, or acknowledge a lack of interest and create a false narrative. You did neither.

Although I do not have extensive experience with young children during my B.S.W. studies, I developed the knowledge and skills needed to conduct through interview with clients. I learned how to do assessments on clients and evaluating them properly. I have conducted interventions on clients while recording documentation and reporting the information properly. I have gained the strengths to advocate services for clients. I have learned how to access and deliver the best approaches to further help clients receive services based upon their situations. I have mainly worked with adults with disabilities or addictions. At my internship during my senior year, I gained practical experience in hemodialysis setting by conducting interviews with clients,established

Alcoholism and the addiction to any drug destroy lives, families and financial security. Growing up with an alcoholic as a parent not only tore my family apart to the point of divorce in 2013; but also left me as a financial insecure college student and a supporter for my younger sister through the years to come. Faced with the sudden tasks of paying for myself and raising my sister, I struggled to through the semesters trying to pay rent and be at home. Academically, I was disappointed in myself and knew I needed to make a change. Through many appointments through the success center, I became proactive to take control of the difficult situation I was in. Though I am still in this situation today, I have learned to time-manage and prioritize

A representative initially garnered my interested in applying to and attending Syracuse University. Earlier this year, my school system hosted a college fair, and Syracuse University was one of the participating schools. Before this, I had not heard much about the school’s academics; in the past, I mainly only heard about the university’s basketball program. I decided to approach the table occupied by the Syracuse University representative to learn more about the school. I was immediately persuaded into applying to Syracuse University by both the location, in the middle of the state of New York, and the possibility of majoring in Aerospace Engineering, which is something I have been interested in since middle school. Many universities do not

During the course of the quarter, I feel that I have progressed somewhat. I've gained a lot of knowledge on rhetorical strategies and how to present arguments effectively. In the writings I have written, I feel that each writing works towards meeting the course goals. Logos, ethos, and pathos were strategies and ideas we were introduced to (if not already in the past) and were built upon throughout the quarter. The knowledge gained over the course of the quarter weren't only those three types of appeals. Rhetorical strategies like proposals helped reinforce the course and using rhetorical analysis in different situations have become easier throughout the quarter. I believe that I have made sufficient progress towards becoming a better