Reflection Essay

There is a saying that practice makes perfect. This semester challenged this famous quote.  It seems that my high school writing experience was nothing compared to this college course. In some analysis assignments, I struggled to make the transition which made my assignment not completed in my best ability.  It caused me to become frustrated as I usually excel in writing and English coursework. After meeting with Dr. Weaver, I began to structure my writing using her techniques to better organize my research and/or writing. My academic self-assessment in the beginning of the course completed by a fellow classmate describe my academic self as impatient, independent, and hard-working. Throughout this semester, these characteristics did not work in my favor because I found it harder to focus, ask for help, organized and concentrate on my work. I was so impatient that I did not wait for the teacher’s instructions which sometime lead to my misconception of some assignments. These misconceptions lead to low scores on important assignments. I became disappointed and embarrassed because I felt like this was not my best work. I found it harder to focus and retain information due to some heath issues and family issues.

                I can relate this assessment to my favorite reading, which is “Some people are just born writers” by Jill Parrot. It says, “Good writing instruction can only occur if the person believes they can be a good writer.” I believed that everything could be solved through my own will. I began to second guess my will and ability to write a paper properly. This led to me not be as confident when turning an assignment. My academic self can now be described if only basing it off of this class as unorganized, impatient, and insecure. I plan on building on my skills during the summer to prevent this cycle from happening again when I take another English course. One thing I learned of upmost importance is signposting as it flags the most important parts of an argument, signals transitions, and clarify the stakes of an argument. These words and phrases helps my structure my writing in order to make it flow and make it understandable.

In the Major Project 3, I had the pleasure of redoing the assignment which rebuilt my confidence. I had a personal meeting with Mrs. where she explained how to organize my text and include each piece of the prompt in the paper. The one takeaway was the strategy of using a T chart to create 2 causes or reasons and 3 sources of supporting evidence. This honestly was a rough draft which helped me fix my biggest issue was misconception and confusion. I learned that it best to overstate and re explain arguments and explanations of evidence because being vague would lead to the reader to be confused or not being able to connect it with the prompt.

 Also, my writing style was very basic, and I could learn to analyze or further elaborate each detail. The purpose was to break down the article of my choosing which was “Taking My Parent To College” by Crucet. I choose this article because I had a personal infatuation with the hardships first generation students. I found the text inspiring and keep my motivated to complete my revision. This was also a topic that hit close to home because I had family members who were first generation college students. I’ve learned and at times experienced the lack of resources for first generation college student. Therefore, it is so important for me to graduate college because I want to pass on the tradition of going to college as it brings better opportunities. I choose this as my research assignment because of my compassion of the topic. I learned of resources of scholarships, waivers, clubs, organizations, and workshops to help first generation student get the financial, economic, social, and cultural help they may need. Many of the students who need these resources are not aware of how to receive it due to their lack of knowledge and parents lack of experience.

Being a dual enrollment student, I find this to be a learning experience that will give me a edge when I officially enroll into college. I will know how to better operate and organize my schedule when I go to college. This semester I took Precalculus, English 1102, Human communications, and Intro to Human Development. I found this class most challenging because I struggled towards the end with the major projects 3 and 4. I love to complete the IP assignments as I found it a great way to express myself like a journal writing. I loved my teacher as they were patient and gave many resources. I know I need to better build my analysis, use of signposting, structure of writing, and using in text citations. I made a positive connection with Young Ahn who completed my academic self assessment 3 months ago. We both found similarities in our personalities. We helped each other by doing each other’s peer review and giving clarified instructions for some assignments.  This class influenced me to not only focus on advancing my math skills but also further study English strategies and curriculum to make myself a stronger writer. I wish I had a more positive attitude when it came to submitting certain difficult assignment because it could have changed my mindset. I believe my mindset was my setback at times as I struggled to find the motivation to complete a difficult assignment. I did not want to bother or oppose my teacher as I completed assignment pass office hours.

Another tool I will make use of next semester will be office hours and iCollege emailing or collaboration with classmates to gain clarity and revision suggestions. I loved the independent of online learning but the fact everyone is also learning at home became a distraction. I had to help my younger siblings while my parents worked which set my work completion back. My schedule began more chaotic but I am proud of myself for completing every assignment to my best ability. This is partial reason for me not participating in office hours. There was nothing I could do about the situation due to the pandemic requiring online learning. Hopefully, I can pursue online courses without the at home distractions which can lead to more time to truly understand strategies and assignment requirements. I felt like I rushed to complete every assignment.

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