Reflective Reflection Essay

When I first got accepted into Stuyvesant High School, I heard countless of rumors stating: “Oh the workload is terrible”, “The competition is so fierce” or “Out of schoolwork, extracurriculars, or sleep: you can only pick two.” I found it hard to let it faze me, since I graduated from one of the most prestigious middle schools. However, the rumors transformed into reality when I stepped into Mr. Nieves’ Freshman Composition Class. The workload at the beginning of the year was brutal, coupled with assignments from other core classes that seem unaware of the workload of other teachers. Reading assignments were a regular, and there were journal entries and occasional quizzes to keep us in line. What made it bearable was the friends I made in that class; everyone had their own opinion about the topic we were talking about, and listening to other perspectives really broadened my horizon and enriched my learning experience in Stuy. Another thing that this class has taught me is the importance of time management, a skill that I will carry on for the rest of my high school career and life. When I choose to sign up for Mr. Nieves’ AP American Literature class in my Junior Year, I was hoping to relive the discussion-based lesson plans and meet more outstanding peers. I was not disappointed, to say the least, reflecting through all the experiences at the end of the course. The lesson plans he laid out for us were an interesting mix between small lectures and class output, and what I

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,

Caring and support the first protective factor in the resiliency wheel stated the most important way to provide that is how you talk to yourself. I always tell the students I work with how powerful positive self-talk can be and that having positive thoughts can actually change your frame of mind and attitude. So one would think that I would follow through with positive self-talk, yet I tend to be a very hard on myself, inner critic. I do though when starting to feel anxious in certain situations that I will use self-talk, which helps me to feel calm.

I have learned many things throughout the course of the term like how to write an essay and how to improve on essays that I have already written, how to locate and composite better research through the use of numerous resources found at the campus library, the internet, how to cite research, examples, and quotations properly within the contents of my research paper as well as document it accurately according to MLA standards. In this class I have learned to write and format an essay the correct way such as a rhetorical essay and visual analysis and lastly compositors essay. Through the exploration of the “Subjects and Strategies” textbook, I have learned nine different methods used when writing an effective essay and how the different writing styles affect the overall theme and tone of the essay when used properly.

“I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way.” (Carl Sandburg) Throughout the semester my english class had had a number of writing projects and also one design project. The first project was a paper on a time in our lives that had changed us or someone. Next, was a review on a how we felt about a movie, book, or tv series. The third paper was a article summary of a article in our field of study. The very last project the class was assigned was to design a poster for an event. The assignments that were assigned opened my eyes about myself as a writer. In this paper I will reflect on what I learned, my goals, and what I need to improve on.

Coming into Drexel this year, a necessity, I learned was to have a clear understanding of the mechanics for literature composition. I learned that it would mature my writing to a higher level of thinking. This is seen as past experiences in my writing through high school English teacher feedback indicated my writing to be full of flaws. I often would receive feedback on my writing being awkwardly worded or lacking fluidity. The one valuable skill I learned from English 101,102 and 103 was the idea that exposure to different readings, formulas and informal writings give practice, for me to find my own voice in writing.

I believe that existence is dependent on connections. Life only exists in ecosystems where energies are undoubtedly interrelated but I think as humans we often overlook the significant beauty of our ecosystem. I’ve learned that the three most important types of connections we make are relationships with other beings, the understanding of ourselves, and deep ties to our natural surroundings. Without these connections, life cannot be. In my experience, I’ve seen how art and creativity develop a language through which connections can be made.

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.

When I was a child, I was a real menace. My mother told me my behavior could clear out a playground. Obviously changes have happened since my playground days and today I’m going to tell you a story prior to my metamorphosis. This is a story that I am not proud to say happened. My parents think it’s funny; however, at the time of the incident they did not. This happened about ten years ago, so I can now look back on it and laugh about what happened with them.

Though there was an impressive amount of points and ideas which I will touch on in a few sentences which I appreciated from JD Vance's lecture, what made me willing to listen, swallow and immerse myself in what he was saying was the fact that he pointed out that while there are going to be differences in culture, in opinion, in almost anything there can be differences in… what’s important, what’s an essential part of trying to fix America and restore people’s hope in the American dream is to come at problems and dilemmas from the other side, with a new perspective.

As I sit here and write this literacy narrative, I reflect on a time in eighth grade when I read a book regrading civil injustice. Back then I wouldn’t have thought to use such fancy words. Instead, something along the lines of “a black boy my age got killed for whistling at a woman! And the murderers didn’t even get in trouble.” So much confusion was attached with my not so politically correct summary of the book. In fact, we read this book in the upmost politically correct way as possible. Derogatory terms such as negro, nigger, and colored was to be renamed and replaced by the word African American. Simple. Nothing too hard to do in eighth grade just switch a word or two around. But how ironic we didn’t go over any set “rules” for the white character’s. No negative connotation related to the word “white” at all. In fact, when we had class discussions for this book it was normal to say “Hiram the white boy went to visit his grandfather in Mississippi.” But if I was to talk about Emmett Till, African American would always be attached to his name. I can admit just like any other person in that class it was weird but we never put too much thought behind it. Just abided by the rules and read.

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

The first thing that I learned from this class was by The Dominican Charism “The Dominican passion for truth presumes a confidence in the intellect’s capacity for discerning truth and for reaching a level of clarity that enables both teacher and student to distinguish truth from error, and distortions and half-truths from the truth” (Charism) It made me more motivated and confident in what am doing today. Having a connection between the student and the teacher is nice, especially when the teacher understands how each student thinks. However, for my short-term goal, is to get a bachelor’s in business administration. My graduation will be next May of 2018; I am hoping that I can attend my graduation because this is the goal that I have

The writing process we practiced during this assignment was quite tedious. The Classes seemed to drag on forever. Since we had the class so early in the morning the motivation to write just wasn’t present. Our writing process was parted in so many different sections, that made it somewhat easier and more difficult at the same time. I didn't have to write it all in one sitting, if i did i would have gotten bored with it. Since our classes are every other day and there are sometimes weekends and I would sort of forget my train of thought from last class and am not able to pick up where i left off. Some parts of the story i got really into and cared about, while other parts of the story i just wanted to get it over with and just wrote down

Prompt: Science, Mathematics, Computer Science students have the opportunity to specialize in rigorous mathematics, science, and computer science curricula focused on problem-solving skills and research. Students will work with a diverse group of peers to solve mathematical, science, and engineering problems. Please describe yourself as you study, work, and interact in your favorite class or activities related to the focus of Science, Mathematics, Computer Science program. Be specific and choose your words carefully. Your response must fit the space below. Your response may be word processed using font size 12 and pasted in this space.