Reflection Essay

It is still so surreal to reflect back on my first semester as an incoming college student in the ENC1101 course, analyzing at my progression as a reader and writer in literacy. Since the first day of class I set in stone my goals for this class: receive a 4.0 GPA, develop my connecting theories skills in writing, and become more aware of objectives for each Unit throughout the course. All of these goals became achievements that not only make others proud but most importantly give me self pride. In order to earn the grades and achieve these goals, I went after every opportunity that I was given as an incoming college student, such as office hours and extra credit. By taking this course I have gained confidence with the utilization of literacy, and made an addition to my group of impactful literacy sponsors. Once students are finished with high school they assume that there is nothing else to learn beyond the stereotypical five paragraph essay, but they are so wrong. I was able to obtain so much knowledge about numerous course concepts from Writing about Writing, articles, and my professor. These concepts will carry on with me throughout a bright future of writing courses, job interviews, and any other skills that require literacy. The four outcomes listed below will help illuminate how I improved as a writer, by being a driven college student and going out of the way to earn my achievements in this course. In the first outcome I improved comprehending scholar texts,

The first smart goals I chose are to learn to become a leader and to have better time management skills. I chose these because I work on a small unit with no assigned charge nurse. Any day you go in to work it could be your day to be charge nurse so everyone on the unit needs to be able to step up and be a leader. Time management is a skill that every nurse needs to learn. In my opinion, if you have good time management skills it can decrease your stress level and make your workday more organized and enjoyable.

I have acquired so many new skills and habits this school year in Ms. Dibernardo's English class. After discussing and analyzing all of the topics we read and learned about, I have developed an understanding for new concepts that I didn't even know were important. This class has helped me grow in various ways that will help me in future classes and high school. Some examples of what we went over are To Kill a Mockingbird, and Gathering Blue.

The opportunity to teach at two high schools in the Bronx made me reflect and struggle with the power of stereotypes surrounding the schools because of the reputation of their borough. These stereotypes did not just impact the way that the schools were perceived, but more importantly the way that my students were perceived and labeled based on the stereotypes reinforced through performance on the Regents exam. Since I was not from New York, I did not have a very good understanding of the stereotypes surrounding the schools when I started, but I knew that the Bronx was a scary place based upon the way that it was portrayed to me through media and in New York history. I won’t lie, I was nervous when I realized that I would be working in a high school in the Bronx in my fall placement, but it did not take long for me to realize that I had been led astray and had believed stereotypes that were far from true.

I chose to major in English at the University of Oregon because the major offered the most beneficial coursework in preparation for law school. Also, I am passionate about research and teaching, and throughout my undergraduate career, I was able to actively pursue these passions. I received a 3.3 GPA.

In my English classes, a popular assignment is analyzing the literature in an essay after reading a novel. You may think that because I had this assignment multiple times already, that I would be good at it by now. I should definitely be able to write it without any hesitation or problem. However, that is not the case, unfortunately. When analyzing literature, I still have a long way to go. I still have a lot of techniques and ways to pick up that would help make my writing more efficient. My brain is definitely still developing new strategies that could come in handy when writing. Although sometimes I believe that I am alright at analyzing literature, I do often times have writer’s block and can not seem to come up with an analyzation. Thankfully, due to my most recent English teacher, I had a lot of help and improved myself greatly. I feel confident in the quotes that I pick, confident in the commentary I am writing, and confident in the way I phrase it. I have developed my own techniques as to analyzing literature in order to write an essay along the way.

One aim I remember well is “Why do we prefer to see segregation as natural, or unplanned?” as I was the one who helped pick it. You gave me a choice between this question and “do we prefer to see segregation as natural, or unnatural?” (something like that), and I picked the former because I knew it better prompted the way you like to guide your lessons. I didn’t think you wanted a debate on whether segregation is planned or not, but rather a discuss on how calculated the racism in our nation is. When you asked the class about the aim, I remember there being silence. Even I was uncomfortable answering because Americans have a tendency to not want to accept their faults. It’s in our textbooks, our curriculum, and our daily lives. Every single history teacher I’ve ever had remained very neutral to the information they taught (which I don’t blame them for most teachers are expected to not share opinions), but you did not care and I loved that!! I feel like I never had the weight of how cruel and deliberate our history of racism was really drop on me until I was in your class. Americans passed segregation off as a natural process because we knew it was wrong, and did nothing about it, but we did not want to feel bad about ourselves and accept what a backwards society we created. It’s such a simple concept, but for some reason, it didn’t hit me hard until then.

“Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private.” - Allen Ginsberg

Throughout my life, there have been many failed attempts at persuasion due to unsuccessful rhetoric. One of these moments occurred during an interview for the acceptance into a CNA class I was interested in. I was being interviewed by the coordinator of the class who was asking me questions about previous experiences. There were questions asking about times I had worked with a team, times I made mistakes during a jobs, how coworkers would describe me, things I did to make others feel comfortable, and much more. The answers to these questions were used as a way to persuade the interviewer into accepting me into the class. In order to make a successful argument, it would have been useful to know the values of this audience. Values of the interviewer and of the class included having some patient care experience, learning from past experiences, being able to showcase feelings of comfort and kindness, and being able to begin working as soon as the class was complete. Although I had these values in mind, I was unable to express them in a persuading way. The appeal I relied on for this interview was logos, which did not benefit me in the end. I answered the interviewer’s questions with a list of all the things I have done and not how these things have changed me. This led to me not being accepted into the class, showcasing my failed attempt at persuasion.

When I first started this class I had no idea what to expect, I was nervous since this was my first college English class. After the first couple of classes, I realized I did not have anything to worry about. You were a great teacher that I got along with well. When we had our conference projects mid-semester I was feeling very good about what the second half of the semester.

Being accepted into May’s Business School this past May, I started to think forward to all the exciting job opportunities and different career paths that I could explore. Through the guest speakers and seminar sessions, I have grown to understand the steps needed to succeed in our evolving job market. By enabling myself to take this course I have learned many professional lessons which include; the value networking can have on your job placement, interview preparation, and how ethical behavior in the workplace can affect your performance.

Growing up, I always had a difficult time controlling my temper. I would experience erratic mood swings that escalated beyond what seemed appropriate, and I would handle stressful situations unfittingly. Throughout most of my teen years, I overlooked and dismissed the severity of my emotional troubles. It took three years to be thoroughly diagnosed with Bipolar Ⅱ Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. During those three years, I learned a lot about who I am, who I was to become, and the difficulties associated with the disorders I face.

As I approach the end of my first semester freshman, I have learned so much regarding these next four years and beyond though my goals and aspirations are still the same. Even the few people I have met have changed my perception drastically. Through exploration on campus, University of North Carolina at Charlotte has shown me what it has to offer regarding my major and preparation for my future career and I have been reaffirmed that I made the right decision.

1. Tell us about a skill or concept related to your anticipated area of study, that you found challenging and rewarding to learn. ( 350 words for 1 + 2 together)

As I woke up this morning in the middle of my college career, I was faced with the simple choice of what to eat for breakfast. Seems like an easy enough task, but it took me fifteen minutes. At this same point in my life I am faced with the decision of quitting my job now or waiting until I start my new one in March. Not as easy of a task. The choices that I make can be right or wrong, but either way I will learn from them. If I make the right decision, good for me and my life can go on smoothly. If I make the wrong decision, then I will struggle to fix my mistake and learn from it in the process. People are faced with choices throughout life. Sometimes these choices can be as simple as left or right, while others are much more