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,

Different races, colors, religions, nationalities and sexual-orientations right here in the United States of America. The United States is becoming more diverse everyday as people travel to America. For this very reason the topic of Social Justice is very significant in today’s society. Children are the future and the place to start when trying to create a better future. Children from very young ages internalize messages about power and privilege with regard to gender, race/ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and language, which they perpetuate through their play and talk (Ryan & Grieshaber 2004). Preschool is an especially important time to begin social justice work, as it is when children are actively beginning to construct difference. Social Justice should be taught and implemented in Early Childhood to help children’s self-perspective, the way that they view others and

Sensoy and DiAngelo point out that social justice education often only includes celebrating diversity rather than focusing on antiracist education. What would antiracist education look like in an elementary classroom? I recognize that diversity needs to be celebrated and acknowledged in the classroom, but I also want to be able to include antiracist education. These authors also note social justice education is something “extra,” rather than something that is included in the curriculum of schools. How can teachers specifically incorporate it into the curriculum regularly while still making sure students succeed on testing? The education system promotes mainstream behaviors from all students, which is the cause of cultural discontinuity. I will

When I write, I believe one of my strengths is that I am able to generate logical perspectives and strong conclusions. I am able to analyze the literature and relate to it in many different ways. In the compare and contrast essay I wrote, "Oliver conveys a tone of remembrance by juxtaposing 'the old burn-dump this waste place' and 'this secret garden'". I am able to apply literary terms and analyze how the author uses them to enhance their writing. In the same essay, I stated, "By using short, concise sentences, Oliver is more direct in her delivery and showing her lamentations for what has happened to the earth around her". I am able to analyze what the author is doing and the effect that it has on the reader.

Knowing now-a-days, how people compare themselves to others. I feel that it is time that we stop. Although it is much harder than it seems. Comparing one another is something we do, there will always be someone stronger, smarter, more attractive, and wealthier. The key is not to let it affect us. An individual will always have something that no one else will. It will differ from each individual. We need to just look at our own life and see what we can do to make it better. If becoming a helper will fill a hole in your life, as it does mine, then do it. If becoming a parent does then do it. We need to stop looking at other people’s lives and focus on our own. We are on this earth for one reason, to live. So we need to stop dwelling on what we don’t have, and go out there and get it, and live, go out and live life. Life is too short to keep complaining about what other people have. Everyone just needs to live life to its fullest.

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 learned a great deal of materials in Dr. Wise AAPS. class, we readied the county and wrote reflections about topics pertaining to literature, technology, and literacies. This allowed me to become a better critical thinker because her course requires us to analyze and reflect on yourself as individuals more than just giving a brief summary on our paper .After taking this course for about 6 months, I have realized that it had made a significant change in my life that i need as a african american man. When I am attending in classes such as political science or nutrition, not only am I understanding the readings better than before but I am also analyzing the information, forming my own thoughts (at times I even present my ideas to the members in class), and incorporating ideas from the past to increase the literacy towards the topic that I would’ve given up in the past. I value the qualities the AAPS course gifts to the students because it has improved me as a student, learner, and as an active member in the society we live in today.

6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

It is crucial for educators in the elementary school setting to take control over shaping their students into individuals that this world needs to become a better place. It is important now more than ever that today’s youth are taught to be open-minded, accepting, and caring citizens. Since the beginning of time, people have congregated around their version of normalcy. This normal can be defined by skin color, language, religion, culture, and so much more. Anything or anyone that varied from that normalcy was considered to be different and hence less than them.

The challenging component this semester was transitioning from being a high school level writer to a college-level writer. However, English 10 has by far been my best experience in writing. By taking this course I have retrieved many helpful elements, that will help me be a successful writer throughout college. In high school, essays often gave me anxiety and stress, however, when taking English 10, I was able to learn to enjoy the process and the art of writing purposefully and mindfully. Even though I have taken advanced placement English courses in high school and have taken a practice run of college level English over the summer with Professor Brenda Venezia, I was still able to get a lot more out of this course. To showcase my progress in this course, I have included my essay from project 2 a rhetorical analysis titled, “Black Lives Matter!” and a research essay from project 3 titled “Why is Racism dangerous?”, which effectively demonstrate my growth as a creative writer, reader, and thinker.

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.

At some point in our lives, we have all asked the question “What is the purpose of school? Why must I learn this? The first time I can recall myself experiencing these sentiments was when I started French immersion. This subject has always presented a struggle for me as I have always felt that it is rather difficult which was amplified due to the lack of help that I received from my parents, as neither could speak French unlike many of my peers’ parents. Your teachers as well as the principal in schools also play a major impact in your education journey and can ultimately shape your education experience. These challenges can impact all students in some way however, it is important to approach these challenges head on in order to succeed and reach your goals including making yourself and your parents proud.

As a 14 year old reader and writer, I never saw a true significance in the subjects. I would often become flustered and overwhelmed when forced to do a writing assignment. I just couldn’t understand why I was being forced to perform a task that, in my opinion, made no impact on the world around me. However, my Sophomore year, my perception began to change. I had begun taking an Advanced Placement World History class. This class made a big impact on me as a reader and a writer for many reasons. Although, I can’t recall every lesson I was taught during the course of this class, but what I can recall is a much more impactful lesson. The lesson that continues to shape how I view literacy and the modern world.

As the first semester of my first year as an undergraduate student has progressed, I have realized how quickly time is passing by. I can easily recall back to the beginning of the semester when it was Frosh week and how nervous and excited I felt as I was about to commence the new chapter in my life that is post-secondary. As the mid-semester quickly sneaks upon us with another five weeks left, I have found myself to be stumbling from morning to morning and from deadline to deadline. I am mentally and physically exhausted as well as overwhelmed with the amount of work I am required to complete; I am burnt out.

I used to be an introvert. I spoke only when necessary and solely when I was called upon. Friend to none. Shadow to all.