Reflection Paper

When I first walked into room 305, I was absolutely terrified. I only knew two of the other people in the class and it was the second class I had gone to. English was never my strongest suit and I had to go into an honors class full of smart, capable people who were surely better writers than I am. So many of them were much more eloquent than me, they were so well spoken. I didn't know if my writing would ever match up, and I hate to be considered subpar. I was really worried for all the peer reviews that I knew would eventually happen. I dreaded the first peer review for the literacy narrative paper because I thought that my paper would be a disaster. However, I learned throughout the course that I wasn't necessarily worse than everyone, I just wrote differently. Everyone writes in their own way but it doesn't mean they one style is inherently better or worse than another.

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.

Throughout the seven weeks that I have taken this writing composition course, I have developed skills to help me improve my own writing. Using the writing process is one of the main focuses in the course. The writing process helps writers develop and revise their essay as they work their way up to creating the final draft that can be presented. Although there are many areas in my own writing where I can get better, I have found that my writing has improved in many ways while practicing using the writing process.

The process I used when writing previously changed during the first few weeks of this class. Already I have altered the way I write my drafts, and the way I read other people’s work. Lamott’s “Shitty First Draft” made me come to the realization that one draft isn’t always the best approach. Therefore, I took multiple steps in examining my draft and critiquing it accordingly. Additionally, I started brainstorming topics, and this led me to create a roadmap for the list of destinations and topics I wanted to touch on and the message I wanted the reader to take away. This is just the beginning of the year and I already have a sense that as I progress through the semester my work will be continually get better.

As a high school student taking on a college course, I acknowledged and accepted the challenge that lay ahead of me. The main reason I selected Composition I and II was that it allowed me to vastly improve my overall writing skills. Developing my techniques will benefit me when I am required to compose any writing assignments for my future college classes. Therefore, with that goal in mind, I chose to take this class while still attending high school. I began this class as an average writer; additionally, I did not know the majority of the writing rules or how to make an essay meet its potential. Over the course of these two classes, I believe that I have proven my writing to be more seamless and interesting to read.

Typically, after being assigned an essay, my first step used to be sitting in front of the computer and starting to type aimlessly with no specific goal in my mind. This process usually ends up taking hours, and I do not end up accomplishing much at the end. This year, I plan to formulate a new process that will hopefully improve my writing exceptionally. Breaking down the essay writing into pieces will result in quality content. The writing process that I devised incorporates some of the basic elements of writing such as: prewriting, revising, and editing.

Over the first and second quarters of Dual Enrollment English at Brooke Point High School, I have grown immensely as a writer. I learned a great deal about how to write a paper, as well as, about myself. In the beginning of this course, I felt as if my assignments were going to overwhelm me; I also felt apathetic about completing them. This led me to create my own personal agenda as to how I would complete my assignments. My plan was to overcome my weaknesses and enhance my strengths within the construction my essays, depth of paragraphs and overall assignments.

No one said college was going to be easy. Over this past semester I have gained some support with creating better essays, but also lost some as well. Essays can be difficult if you do not know what you are doing, in some parts of this semester that’s how I felt. Being able to change from high school papers to college paper is different. Over the past semester I have learned to write about many different things that I have not done before, from different audiences to different types of essays, also learning to have to take other people’s thought and put that into my essay to help me improve. In this essay, there will be many things happening, like my effects of each different essay, reflect on the relationship between writing and critical thinking, how rough drafts help improve, and also the purpose goals of my writing.

Writing is a different process for each writer who strives to put thoughts into words. In most beginning college English courses, budding writers are taught how to write by following a series of stages. There is a diversity among readers which presents a different viewpoint about a piece of work. This leads to a variety of different works because each written piece, whatever it may be, can be interpreted to mean whatever a reader wants it to mean. However, in order to present your views to other readers you must first learn the fundamentals of the writing process and how to incorporate it into a well-written essay. This takes time and much practice since the writing process is a very important method and unique process for each individual. The following paragraphs discuss this process and how to utilize it in order to synthesize thoughts and words into a concise and intelligent essay.

Have you ever been so frustrated writing an essay that you set it aside until the last minute? Well, there can be a way to prevent that. One of the most important parts about writing is the process behind it. An essay should consist of an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Even though the process of writing essays seem very mind boggling, it is actually an easy process if following the correct writing steps. It can be even easier if the writer enjoys the topic of the essay. There are certain steps a writer must take to keep a reader interested while showing enthusiasm for them wanting to learn more. These steps follow a set of guidelines including planning, free writing, revising and editing.

A peaceful Spring evening gave way to a moonlit crisis as I stumbled out of my house and through an empty neighborhood. I saw the stars on the pavement beneath my feet, and underside of the ocean in the skies above; I didn’t want to exist anymore. I wanted to cry and scream, but only bubbles would come out. I walked deeper into the void, and in my depressing soliloquy, I cried out; I asked why I’m like this, why must I overthink and overanalyze any situation, when did I lose the ability to accept, and why the hell can I not learn to love myself? Whether the response from the void was a spiritual experience, a message from God, or maybe just a personal epiphany, I do not know. But that’s what I learned to accept, that there’s a lot of stuff I do not know and that I will never know. That night, I realized that true acceptance is not where I fully come to terms with a situation, no matter how terrible, but it is acknowledging how I will never fully accept these things. It is looking at the bad things in my life directly, and respecting that I will never be completely okay with it, and welcoming my sadness. After this night, I learned to accept my overwhelming self-hatred and fear of failure, and I grew to become more motivated and hardworking because of this. I wanted to work so that I could feel good about myself and I hoped that it would make me truly happy one day. After accepting all the things I didn’t know, I began to believe that there was a light around the corner, out

Everyone at some point in their life has had the dream where they are falling, but they never actually hit the ground. This dream is symbolic of life. Regardless of how far you fall you never hit the ground. A friend of mine, currently in pharmacy school, confides in me about how he wishes that he had done things my way, the right way as he calls it. Nevertheless, I did not grasp what he meant so one day, I implored him to explain. According to him, the “right,” way is by not failing classes the first time, finishing college in 4 years, and be smart about taking the MCAT. Essentially, not screwing up the first time, so you can continue with your goals the first time around instead of getting older and wasting time. While my friend may have been right in some aspects, my personal experiences have taught me that there really is no right way. However, life does not ultimately work out the way one imagines. You do fail, you do break down, you are frightened and you learn to get up regardless of the circumstances.

Before starting this session, I assumed I was well versed in terms, of race, ethnicity, and nationality being that it is a topic I am reminded of nearly every day. However, I may have been partially wrong, I’ll explain. My mother was born in the state of Michoacán, Mexico in the rural town of Arteaga. My father was born in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico in the city of Chihuahua. I have always considered my race to be Mexican and my ethnicity to be Hispanic while my nationality is American. Considering filling out administrative forms, I typically check the block for other when it comes to race and identify by ethnicity. It varies depending on the form, if there’s a block to check for Hispanic usually there’s a blank space where I write in Mexican. If there is only a black space then I will write in Mexican. However, to Mexicans from Mexico, I am not considered Mexican. They will label me as a white Mexican, Mexican American or Chicana. I am undoubtedly proud of my roots as well as being an American. In the world we live today, it’s difficult to neglect the fact that I stand out due to my unique characteristics. That at times I am treated differently. That due to my roots I am told to return to my country. That I shed a tear as I write this because I live with an inner struggle of who I am.

In the first semester of Mr. McGee’s class was a very educational one. For the first time in my entire life I actually finished an entire textbook! The junior english B class had plethora of really amazing stories and poems. However, there was only a handful of stories and poems that really stood out for me. These stories and poems had a deeper meaning to them then the rest. Being in Mr. McGee’s class really helped me dive into a better understanding of even the most simple lines. I believe that this has also had an impact on the type of music I listen to as well. For the longest time, The sound and beat of a song was what made me fond of it. However, I am more drawn to songs with meanings now. I also believe that in benefited my reading techniques. The problem that I had with standardized testing for reading was not being able to focus on stories that had bored me. There were some stories that still made me feel this way, but at least now I can read through it and understand the basics of the text. The following paragraphs give a very opinionated reason as to why these poems and stories i choose were some of the best texts that we read in this semester.

On September 12, 14, and 19, 2017 I had the pleasure of tutoring Haven. Haven is a nine-year-old, who is in fourth grade at Mark Twain Elementary School in Hannibal, MO. In each session, we would work together for 60 minutes. I was able to learn a lot of things while tutoring. First off, going in to tutor Haven and not knowing really anything about her and her learning preferences. It was hard not knowing what strategies helped her the most when reading or which ones made it more difficult for her. But that is going to be with any student(s), you just have to go with the flow. You will learn those things as you get to know the student. That is what happened with Haven and I, within the first tutoring session she let me know her learning preferences and what she liked. Then within the sessions we were together, I knew which strategy helped her while reading and what she struggled with.