Reflection Paper

When I first decided to expand my education, it had been so long since I had been to school, and I was very hesitant. I talked at length about my decision with my husband and with his encouragement, decided to enroll but still was not quite sure which degree program to enroll in. I knew that this was something that I had always wanted to do since I obtained my Associates Degree in Nursing, but I did not have the courage, nor did I want to give up the time with my family and children. I second guessed my abilities and my knowledge because it had been so long since I had been in college. Now that my children are about to graduate high school and

Throughout the course of this semester, I have continuously grown as a writer. Prior to taking this course, I had little experience or knowledge when it came to writing. I used to struggle with forming my thoughts into writing, let alone a paper. I was never confident with what I wrote. My writing had no greater purpose other than the assignment. My writing process included: writing my paper, proofreading it, and turning it in. Once the paper left my hands, it also left my mind. Throughout this course we worked with others, visited the writing lab, wrote critiques, and we were able to revise our papers. I believe that all of this is has caused me to grow greatly as a writer.

As I finished my first semester of college, I was super excited and thrilled when I realized not once did I have to write a paper for any of my classes. There were some paragraphs and summaries here and there but they were pretty standard. When I realized that I was going to have to take Rhetoric 105, a writing course, I freaked out not because there would be a lot of readings but because of the writing expectations. Obviously, I am a decent writer if I was able to get accepted to multiple universities and get good grades throughout my writing career. Yet there is still this nervousness whenever I realize I have to write a paper. I have multiple struggles and strengths when it comes to writing. One of the struggles I face every time it comes to writing a paper is actually getting

Before this course, dread engulfed me as an upcoming deadline loomed. Procrastination was my enemy, though I couldn’t jettison it. I would sit down the night before and furiously scribble everything out on my notebook paper in a rush to turn in the next

In regards to writing, I have always struggled to meet all of the requirements for a perfect paper that includes a well-organized text filled with rich analytical sentences. In the beginning of the semester I constantly worried about the structure of my writing and its overall material. In high school it was important for me to complete my essays by answering the questions that I was given, but in college, students go more into depth. College students are required to focus on grammar, and well-structured ideas that flow along with rich analytical content. After I was given my first assignment I was pressured to improve my overall work by focusing on structure and developing analytical content. Assignments such as the weekly readings and writing assignments helped me improve my overall work. Through the narrative essay, artist research essay and Storify project I focused on many aspects that improved my writing. For all of my assignments, it was useful to use techniques, such as, reading out loud to revise the structure of my work and going into depth with description.

I am a very organized person. At the beginning of the semester, I read through the syllabus. I knew that we would have a reflection paper on the course, so I have been preparing all semester to write this paper. Every chapter I read and summary I completed, I would jot down concepts and ideas that stuck with me. I took this class because it was a requirement for my ASL minor. I did not realize what I was going to learn and I think that worked out well in the end.

Going into the semester I thought that the prewriting process was important. I spent a significant amount of time on prewriting, but I was not very good at keeping my thought and ideas structured and organized the way I wanted them to go into my paper. This semester I learned how to write a very structured outline before every paper that we wrote. I spent the majority of time working on the outline to make it very detailed. I felt that the more time I spent on the outline the easier it would make the final draft when the time came.

In this class, I have really realized my strengths and weaknesses in my writing skills. Before this class, whenever I had a paper to write usually I would wait to the last minute and wing it. However, in this class I could not simply do that. So much research had to be done in order to compose these papers that it was a bit overwhelming. Learning to narrow my focus was key not only to surviving this class but to composing a well-organized paper without rambling as well. I learned that I’m a bit ambitious whenever I feel passionate about a subject, which can make writing the paper easy, however it makes it hard to feel like the paper is ever perfect. On the bright side this often leads me to put a lot of hours into a paper in hopes that it will

Over the course of the semester, there has been numerous amount of areas where I believe I have improved in comparison to high school. What has helped me in my writing is the writing class and the in-class writing workshop. The writing class that is located in the Kremen education building has helped me with my writing greatly because in the writing center the person in charge teach us lenses and we apply those lenses to the writing, draft, or reading that someone brings in. The in-class writing workshop has helped me because other students get to read my writing. This is helpful because I get feedback from many students and they let me know what needs to be fixed. A new tool I have been using is They Say I Say. The book is very helpful because of the information and examples it provides such as the templates. I have been applying the templates into my essays and I have seen a significant difference.

It’s my first class of the year, not knowing what to expect I entered the room with absolute nervousness and fear, after all it was my second English class of college. Although, I’ve never been quite fond of writing in the past, I’ve always done well in the English class in high school. I had yet to work to hard for my grade and no English course I had taken proved to be a challenge in my eyes. But, I have always been a huge procrastinator, if not one of the biggest when it comes to writing. Most of the time I wrote the papers a couple nights before or sometimes even the day of and still managed to average a “C” on all of them. That is why I failed English the first time I took it. I was screwing myself over with this bad habit, but it was so hard to change except for this year. I believed that with the right focus and skills I could finally be a wonderful writer. Throughout this semester to become a better and stronger writer for my future education, I have learned about having a good introduction paragraph, functional conclusion, and peer review.

When taking this course at first I was very hesitant on continuing with it because it went against everything I knew growing up in my home. I’m very glad I continued the course because it has offered me so much in opening my eyes on how life is for people who are women, different race, their sexual orientation, gender, and disabled. I never really realized how much I was limited too growing up as a girl, I was expected to be dolce, pretty and quiet. While boys were expected to do about whatever they wanted, they could get dirty, be loud, and cause a ruckus. I experienced this as a kid; my brother wouldn’t get in trouble for doing certain things. If I tried to do what my brother did, I would get in trouble and be told, “A young lady shouldn’t be doing that”. It irritated me so much because I didn’t know why my brother could get away with certain actions and I wasn’t.

Our civilizations relies upon people to develop morals and resilience through family, however, what happens when you grow up in an abusive family? Sure, you develop resilience quickly, unfortunately, you may build your moral foundation over a sinkhole. In addition to family dynamics, by age eleven, I survived being hung by a Mexican gang, three dog attacks and a house fire which left both legs covered in second degree burns. Fortunately, at age twelve, I ran away and a couple discovered me sleeping in their garage. Compassionately, they took me in and allowed me to live in a travel trailer on their property.

“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” –Winston Churchill. I do remember my late grandfather narrating alluring anecdotes from his time in the Indian Air Force and a few of my late great grandfather’s heroics while he served in the British Army (1917-1946). I slowly started to develop a taste for war-time stories, military history as a whole which always intrigued me, possibly because of my family lineage. I am always curious to learn more about our past, about the mistakes made by our forefathers that however frivolous they may seem or sound but were enough to instigate a war.

The United States of America is the country where there is a true dynamic of cultures. Culture is capable of affecting the value and reasoning of thoughts. Culture is a sensitive area each human must explore. In class, I learned about cultural awareness and how everyone should be compassionate and accepting of others and themselves. I grew up in a Christian world, however, now I am seeking something more. One lesson that will always be keen to my heart is: to love others as you love yourself; this verse is crucial for one’s growth. If one does not love him or herself than one cannot truly love another for who they are. Consequently, if one loves others, then one should be working on insecurities and gain more confidence so that it does not become an obstacle to truly care for others. Life is about embracing who you are, and in order to succeed in this, one must love others truly. The love for oneself and the love for others, should balance each other out. There are times where one should sacrifice time or other things in order to show love. Love should be unlimited and available for everyone, but unfortunately, some individuals never experience something so pure like love, hence, the reason why we have justice. Justice is embraced in our society, it requires one to become an advocate and learn how to empower individuals to use their voice. One of the reasons why I choose this field is because I want people to know they are loved and provide justice for them. In every

I truly believe that each person, experience, and surroundings takes someone to where they are. To me it’s been a wide set journey that has shaped me as a reader and writer. I came to the realization that what someone's background is, isn’t a definition of who they are. But instead, it has shaped them to where they stand. Where somewhere came from doesn’t define where they will end up. That just means each piece you read or write comes from somewhere that had meaning to it. In my life it involves church, my family and my teachers. Each have been a significant role in the process of getting to where I am now.