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

The challenging component this semester was the transition from high school English reading and writing level to college level. It is mainly because High school writing did not have many expectations from students, its main focus was on the ideal five-paragraph essays. As compared to college, writing is mainly geared and focused on one’s ability to thoroughly answer the assigned prompt. Initially, I was not sure if I was capable of handling a fast-paced course, however, I quickly adjusted to the change and I am glad that I chose to stay. In English 10, I have learned many valuable elements that I can incorporate into my everyday writing. I have included my writing from project 2 a rhetorical analysis on, “Black Lives Matter”, which effectively demonstrates my growth as a reader, thinker, and writer.

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,

Throughout the course of freshmen year I have developed different skills and opinions on writing. I feel I have created a more mature style of writing and a better understanding of literature. I have changed my view of writing over this semester and acquired a strong liking for it. The importance of writing has become more visible throughout the past few months. Writing is crucial in many aspects of a person’s life. I have grown to be a more powerful and well built writer throughout this course.

As the semester approaches a conclusion, I have discovered for myself that I happen to exhibit not simply on how I have endured this semester, but then again also what I have gained in knowledge of. In the past four months, I would consider that I obtain an accomplishment of achievement in improving my writing techniques. The most important principle that I have discovered so far ensues on how to become an improved writer. With each writing assignment, I learned additional methods and skills, which tweaked my capabilities to develop my thoughts in detail on paper, to write clearly, and to organize my essays efficiently. In previous years, I would frequently catch myself irritated believing I had terrible writer’s block standing in my path of writing an organized essay. This created a feeling as if I could not distinguish how to write properly and the reasoning behind my hatred for writing. During high school, I learned the Modern Language Association (MLA) formats for bibliographies and parenthetical citations, consequently at the beginning of the fall semester, I knew only this format. I was able to learned the correct format for the American Psychological Association (APA) style when doing each assignment at hand.

At 11:15 on Monday, August 17, 2015, my first official college class, English 1101, began. In general, I had no idea what college classes would be like let alone how college English would be. Even though this class taught me a great deal in one semester, it took a large amount of time and effort to make the adjustment from high school. The simplistic writing style of high school was put to rest the moment the first college English class began. As a result, I learned quickly that college writing is complex and less systematic than high school writing. Five paragraph essays with three strict body paragraphs were no longer the norm for writing. Even though my professor helped guide my writing, I was no longer coddled through the whole writing

During this second semester, I learned about many techniques that enhanced my writing. I cannot believe that my first year of college is over because it seems like yesterday I attended my first class. I will use this techniques throughout the rest of my life to make my paper stronger and more professional. As I continue to learn I will add techniques I learn in the future to make my writing even stronger. I believe my writing is strong, but can

Throughout this semester, I have seen an improvement in my writing skills and the way I develop my essays. I have always had a passion for creative writing, but when writing academic papers, I lacked technique and correct grammar. I made exceptional grades on my writing assignments in high school, but I learned quickly that English college classes are much more challenging. Being in my first college English class helped me learn how important class attendance and participation are, along with learning the many rules and techniques used in writing. Seeing the improvement in my writing over the course of this semester has made me very optimistic of the English classes I will take in the future. This class has taught me how important grammar is and how I should always strive for improvement in my writing.

This year, we have written several essays; all of which I have learned something new to help improve my writing. Looking back at my writing from the start of the year to now, I have encountered substantial improvements in my ability to form an effective introductory paragraph, my ability to use different types of phrases and my development of examples. “My Summer Reading Essay,” written earlier in the year, demonstrates my lack of knowledge on writing an introductory paragraph, using topic sentences and developing examples. However, since the beginning of the year, I have begun to see improvements in essays like “Major Works I” and the “Joe and Claire Narrative” that include more effective introductory paragraphs, the use of different types

My writing has greatly changed since the first day of this class, in a positive way. Before I took this course, I would write essays full of punctuation errors and improper sentence structure. One of my greatest weaknesses was writing conclusions, and through this English class and its assignments, I have improved my grammar and overall writing. Moreover, I have learned how important it is to write drafts and proofread them before settling on the final paper. I am not the same writer I was when I began this class, since my strengths have expanded to include a higher vocabulary and a more focused writing style. However, I can still do more to improve my skills – focusing on wrapping up my essays better – and become an even better writer.

In the final days of this semester, one tends to look back at the work done over a difficult and long three months. In the case of this English composition class, reflecting on completed essays has allowed me to analyze the development of my writing over the semester. Although this semester consisted of only five essays, it has become apparent to me that my writing has improved in many aspects throughout the semester. One general example of this improvement is the vocabulary, where simple vocabulary in the first essay had become more complex by the final essays. Additionally, I also believe that my writing has become more reflective of my actual voice and opinions, an improvement considering my first essays were best described as vague.

At the beginning of English Composition, intimidated by the expanse of knowledge that my teacher had. I was worried about if my papers would ever be good enough because in my earlier years, writing was not a thing I was good at. However, as the semester progressed, I learned that I my writing skills were up to par with college writing. In the end, I realized that my introductions and conclusions had improved compared to high school and that I needed to work on my grammar, development of my ideas, and making sure my main points are developed and clear. Furthermore, I plan to correct my errors by using various writing strategies and resources.

Looking back onto the three assignments I have produced in English 104 this semester, I can proudly say I have grown. After revising my essays I have come to realize that I no longer struggle in turning my ideas into sentences. Even though I am still struggling with commas, I hope in this upcoming semester this would not be an issue for me anymore. This semester has allowed me to change my writing dramatically. Before taking English 104, I was afraid that I was not going to write as well as a college student. I feared that my writing was not going to be of high quality, since I had trouble writing introductions and conclusions for most of my papers in High School. Because of past experiences, I told myself that for able to change my writing,

Over the course of this past semester, my ability to write has improved tremendously. Prior to undertaking this course, my expertise in writing was not as fine-tuned as it should have been. I had never previously been enrolled in a class specifically tailored to writing-- which was quite clear. Upon reading my past works, it becomes apparent that my writing style consisted of fluff, small words, and inconsistently structured sentences. These problems have, for the most part, been remedied with the coursework I have tackled in College Writing. Rather than long, drawn out papers that take an eternity to reach the primary point, my recent work is much nicer in terms of composition and grammar. I credit these improvements to the three primary

As my first semester of writing is coming to the end, I have learned a tremendous amount of new skills and have seen improvement in my writing. This class has challenged me to truly take a look at the issues in my writing, and to explore ways to make improvements. As well as, it has taught me new writing habits that can hopefully carry over into the rest of my college writing career. After going through all of my post’s in the CommonPlace Book blog, I noticed a variety of topic which I have decided to use to describe my first semester in writing.