Reflection Paper

The writing process has always been a challenge for me. Especially if it has a due date. In the past, I have always procrastinated the process and that never ended well. I knew something had to be done and I needed to come up with ways to make writing a little easier. So, I sat down and I started to look at writing in smaller steps. I started to plan how I was going to finish a paper without getting so anxious and overwhelmed. This process has helped me a lot along the way and I am going to share my process with you.

Writing my paper wasn’t a very difficult process. The intro and summary for the paper were not that hard to do because I know what I wanted to write in them. The body paragraphs were the part that I struggled in because I got stuck on some parts trying to figure out how to write something better or how to write what I want to write in an understandable way. Also putting the pictures in the paragraphs was

Writing a paper is harder than it looks. It might seem easy, after all most two year olds can put together a coherent sentence. Creating a paper, however is much more difficult than merely stringing coherent sentences together. It is completing a complicated puzzle with no rules, no pieces, and no right answer, just lots of wrong ones. The steps on the way to writing a good paper are long and difficult. Nevertheless, like Dante’s escape from purgatory they must be faced to win the prize; the blank page must be stared down, procrastination defeated, spelling errors put to the sword, MLA format overcame, and diction conquered.

Before this class, I was terrified of writing papers. In high school we did not write that much and when we did, we were expected to know how to do it. My teachers never went into as much depth and detail as we did in this class. Writing in general was one of my biggest challenges coming into this class. In class we had to write reflections about ourselves and our week in class. I would always struggle with these because I would never know what to write about or how to start it. However, I got more comfortable with formal writing. I felt more comfortable with these because it was like following a formula. With the formal papers, I had directions and with those I was able to find a topic and execute the paper more easily. This reflected in my grades as well because, I would get higher grades on the formal papers and lower grades on my reflections. I am going to demonstrate how I struggled on the reflection journals and did not struggle on the formal writing assignments.

Throughout my entire life – just like anyone else – English and writing papers has been present. In our society, writing papers is a necessary part of educating our youth and helping them to become smarter individuals. For me, these papers have always been a dreaded experience. As soon as a teacher starts talking about a paper that is coming up, my brain instantly starts freaking out. From one-page papers that had to be written in middle school, to a twenty minute presentation I had to give at the end of my senior year – and everything in between – my fear of writing spans over most of my life and doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

While writing is an essential part of a student’s success I managed to avoid papers as much as humanly possible. The reason I have avoided writing isn’t that I do not like to write but that I am not comfortable writing papers that are going to be graded because I have a hard time putting down what I am thinking so typically it is a grammatical mess. I often over use or do not use enough punctuation and have poor choice in wording. Throughout the next fifteen weeks my personal goal is to be able to write a paper with proper grammar and be able to balance my paper.

I finally realized I had all week to work on my paper; therefore, I finally took advantage of my time in class. After receiving my bad grade on my first paper I knew I needed to actually put it in effort during the week. Throughout the second paper “The Cause and Effect of Volunteering” I started as soon as I could and by Tuesday I had a solid outline. Then, by Friday I had a nice rough draft finished before the end of the school day. By Sunday, all I had to do was proof read and submit which was a major relief. My paper about volunteering taught me that time management is key in writing efficiently. I received a 90 on the rough draft and a 94 on the final copy of “The Cause and Effect of Volunteering.” My high grade on my volunteering paper gave me hope for my writing and motivation to work on my paper as much as I could during

The writing process is not easy; in fact, it is quite difficult. Especially when writing a lengthier paper that is worth a lot. It makes your stress levels go through the roof and it makes you second guess every step you make. But it also helps you to write a good paper. Knowing it was a difficult assignment that was worth many points, I stressed about it from beginning to end, but I feel that the stress actually helped me write this paper.

At the beginning of the class this year, I didn’t expect o to well right off the bat of the college level writing course because I had always struggled with English in middle school through high school. To my surprise though, I have learned many things this semester and have already used some of these skills in other papers in other classes I had. Thanks to the help of Sue Oakes, I can now say proudly that I can actually write a decent paper and feel rather confident about it.

Writing papers has not been my strong suit in school. Writing papers has bad days, as well as good days for me. One day I can write a five page paper in one sitting, another, I struggle to write a sentence within half an hour. Writing, as well as using the writing process, is a very daunting task, in which I hope to excell in throughout the course of this year. Although I have struggled with writing in the past, I believe that I can turn this around by utilizing the writing process, as well as reducing the mistakes that have been made in the past.

Rough drafts, headaches, and spending time searching for the right words to express your thoughts are among many other things that come to mind when it comes to writing an essay. The process can be time consuming and difficult, and often has many roadblocks before completing the paper. Over the time I have spent writing different papers, I have discovered more about the methods that get me through it and how I can try to improve my work. I also know more about what kinds of things I enjoy writing.

I remember walking into my class room and seeing my teacher Mrs. Lutz sitting behind her podium. On the board, written in green marker under our daily objective were the words "students will be able to write a proper essay paper." My heart dropped. I had always dreaded any kind of writing and I knew this was going to have to be the longest paper I had ever written. I took my seat slowly and I waited for my teacher to give her instructions.

Writing a paper can be difficult, there are so many components that go into the process that can be the difference between an average or above average paper. When given an assignment to construct a clear and concise paper one many be intimidated; especially when the factor that a grade will be given enters the picture. I have found that a paper takes a lot of work, through the beginning stages to the middles infamous writers block, and finally to the final draft; where you think to yourself that you stressed too much. Although everyone works differently this method has served me the best; first to begin a thinking map, then write a rough draft, and finally to make corrections and form the final draft. This may seem like the

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

At the beginning of this class I was nervous on how this semester will go and whether or not I will succeed to my fullest potential in English. With that in my mind I still was trying my best to work at getting better, despite how much it made me cringe at the thought of it. My perspective of writing began to change as time went on, the assignments were based on interesting topics which made it a bit bearable for me. I’ve learned that you have to make the steps to get to the perfect paper. A paper requires you to brainstorm, make an outline, and writing your rough draft to get that feedback you need before finishing up that final draft. During this class I have also learned where to put my thesis and that I don’t need to have that three point subtopics of what you should talk about. The writing length started getting longer and I was a bit skeptical on how I can get to the word count or what will I talk about within my papers, but I have