Reflective Essay Writing

The art of writing is a complex and difficult process. Proper writing requires careful planning, revision, and proofreading. Throughout the past semester, the quality of my writing has evolved significantly. At first, I struggled with the separation of different types of paragraphs, and I found writing them laborious. Constant practice, however, has eliminated many of my original difficulties, and helped to inspire confidence in my skills. As a collegiate writer, my strength lies in my clear understanding of the fundamentals of writing, while my primary weakness is proofreading my own work.

Everyone on the planet has a goal set in life, but only a handful attempt to improve to obtain their goal by studying the subject their goal is in. In my English class, English 101 this quarter I was astonished by how much I had progressed as a writer sharpening my writing skills and also learned a lot about writing that I hadn’t learned before. In my writing portfolio for this quarter I had to write an autobiography essay, a research essay, and this reflection essay to develop my writing skills better. The writing assignments were fun to do because it challenged me to work on essays of different styles that were new to me. The essay assignments helped me grow as a better writer that gave me the self-confidence and skills to take on the world on my own.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

Throughout this semester, I have achieved the goals that were set for English 1020. I have progressed in my ability to write and now I can confidently move onto future English courses. Writing my first essay in this course was quite difficult. being the first essay I had to write as a freshman in college, I struggled conforming to the new standards that were being set. However, after writing my second essay, it was clear that I was improving greatly. I stop denying the fact that I could get better, I understood that I wasn’t at my best. I used my mistakes from my pervious essays to guide me when writing. In this reflective essay, I will be explaining each learning outcome and how I have met them with my past essays I did.

Upon entering Columbia College, writing was one of my weaker areas. It was very important that I gained the necessary knowledge and confidence to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to express myself and felt as though my writing was not my interest. As a result of taking English 101, I have gained a better understanding on how to properly research and build a satisfactory paper. Every paper that was assigned seemed like a struggle to complete. Before entering this class, I did not know the meaning of a thesis or why it was important, however, I obtained this skill quickly. I noticed that every paper has an argument and the thesis helps clarify the rebuttal. Now, I have a new outlook on writing. It’s a way to express my thoughts and allow others to see things through my eyes. There is no doubt that I still have a long way to go, but I know if I continue to write, I will get better. Just as I developed more skills in class, the various papers assigned helped to better structure the writer in me. In addition, the subject areas were not only interesting, but very informative and made it much easier to write about my experiences.

My experience in the writing process has been extremely humbling. My mother is a teacher, so as soon as I could speak, I was taught how to write. All throughout elementary, middle, and the first few years of high school, I excelled in English. This skill of mine was put to the test, and for the first time, challenged and criticized in AP English Language. I quickly learned that I couldn’t always follow the three-chunk, five-paragraph essay format and that restatement of the author’s ideas was not enough. English soon became difficult when I realized I actually needed to think critically. My confidence in my writing dropped dramatically. However in my time so far in AP Literature, I’ve come to realize that I am a talented writer, and that

I only had fifteen minutes left. It was then that I understood that this essay would not be perfect. In fact, it would most likely be disorganized and flawed, but, regardless of the outcome, I would have to write. With this realization, the weight of perfection lifted off my shoulders and it was strangely liberating to know that I would not be able to meet the impracticable standard I had set for myself. The unmarked page seemed less of an adversary and more of a companion as I began to write. At first, my words came slowly and laboriously. Then, they came all at once. One sentence led into another until sentences formed paragraphs and paragraphs formed an essay. When the proctor rose, considered us with practiced sympathy, and told us to put our pencils down, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I was simultaneously filled with relief and self-doubt. I had completed the essay, but, in the process, I had compromised an aspect of my identity that placed faultlessness above all else. In the past, I had seen that part of me as an asset, but on that day, it seemed unpleasantly clear that it was my greatest weakness. As I slowly unfurled my stiff fingers, I considered the now empty desk in front of me. Perhaps perfectionism is as much of a hurdle as it is a

During this semester, I have strengthened my writing by trying new writing techniques, learning about purpose, and finding new ways of combating writers block. My first essay in this class was less focused then the essays I wrote later in

On our first in-class timed writing assignment, I scored a four out of a possible nine. Initially, I think I was very disappointed, if only because I had always been praised in school for my ability to communicate. My fondness for writing in my spare time also contributed to this. Once the rubric was returned, however, it was obvious that the mistake had fallen not on the style of writing but my lack of focus when reading. My essay missed the point of passage. After reading it over again briefly, I could see glaring error in my own comprehension of the piece. I remember feeling unsure of how I was going to approach my response when crafting it. I started writing without a full understanding of what I had read and that lead to my failure in

Before I came to college, I felt my writing had to follow a certain pattern and be fixated around one way of thinking. What I was fortunate to learn was quite the opposite. Writing does not have to follow any certain pattern, but can rather be structured through many different possibilities. I was also told in high school that my papers either had to agree or disagree with the given topic, even if I believed otherwise. This formulated a very one-track way of thinking when it came to my papers. Now I know that I can let my mind explore new and exciting ideas. I can agree, disagree, compliment, criticize, and question the author however my heart desires, as long as I have the evidence to back myself up. Many authors in the book, Writing About Writing, explain their processes as well as the processes of others when it comes to writing. As a writer, I can draw on my own processes and relate them to the authors, as well as use their ideas and apply them to myself. Through reading, I have learned new methods of invention, planning and revising, and incubation when it comes to writing. All ways I can use to create more meaningful and creative work.

In high school, I would always get the highest score in my class when we would write essays. Naturally, I adopted a sense of confidence where I would not spend a lot of time writing and still expect a good grade. However, in the first paper I wrote in COLWRIT R1A, I followed my same routine effortlessly dedicate about one hour to write the essay. When the grade came back for this assignment, I was given my first B in a long time. Bewildered, I made a bunch of excuses in an attempt to justify this B, and claimed that it was because “Berkeley has higher standards than my high school, but I am still a great writer. I will just start dedicating more time to writing my essays.” However, as the semester continued, it seemed as if I could not get an A on any of my papers that I had submitted even though I worked on it for a long time. After a deep reflection, I realized that I have been missing more as a writer than I had thought. There was so much more that I can improve when writing my essays. For example, this semester I learned that my thesis has to be narrow, that it is acceptable to deviate from the five paragraph structure, and to use questions as a tool to help me develop an interesting thesis.

It never dawned on me that my writing level was severely below satisfactory. I wrote a couple essays here and there throughout middle school and freshman year, but none of which were even close to decent. I never knew how to organize my thoughts, much less put them onto paper in the right sequence to form an essay. Thanks to Mr. Shaw it really developed for me. It all started with a prompt that was written on the white board and he spouted, “Of course I did and he wrote his own points up there to help others move along. He then proceeded to ask us, “Now with those couple of points you jotted down, I want you to give me some information about those small categories.” Without hesitation, I

When I received my first prompt for the course, I felt confident about the essay that was chosen. I used to transition words, brief examples followed by an analysis to support my thesis. However when I received the paper back, I was disappointed with myself. My essay was full of colorful marks with both negative and positive commentaries. This prevented me from feeling motivated at first because I often times would become anxious when writing essays. After a while, I reviewed my writing and began to take into account her suggestions in future essays. For instance, I took into consideration her comments

I have always enjoyed writing and reading in my spare time. Allowing myself to get lost in the fictional work of others or even writing my own short stories to past time was a commonality of my day. Despite my enjoyment of reading and writing; I would not label myself as a great writer. I particularly do not enjoy writing assignments that have a set of guidelines with a specific due date and that is exactly what First-year Composition at The University of Georgia does. I was quite apprehensive about my writing and the criticism it would receive when coming into this course. I knew that my punctuation and grammar foundation was not necessarily the sturdiest structure one could possibly have. In August, if someone were to ask me "How would you label your writing skills?" I would have definitely responded something along the lines of, "Rough around the edges and a bit wordy but has good intentions." My feelings of incompetence when it came to writing was quite transparent in my first college essay. However, throughout the semester I have been gaining more confidence with the help of my professor, my peers, and the faculty at the Writing Center provided on campus. Through my increased confidence when it comes to my writing, I believe I have considerably improved. Although I must admit I still make mistakes here and there; my work reflects the newly found confidence I discovered while taking this course.

In high school, I would always receive the highest score in my class when we would write essays. Naturally, I adopted a sense of confidence where I would not spend a lot of time writing and still expect the best grade. However, in the first paper I wrote in COLWRIT R1A, I followed my same routine effortlessly dedicate about one hour to write the essay. When the grade came back for this assignment, I was given my first B in a long time. Bewildered, I made a bunch of excuses in an attempt to justify this B, and claimed that it was because “Berkeley has higher standards than my high school, but I am still a great writer. I will just start dedicating more time to writing my essays.” However, as the semester continued, it seemed as if I could not obtain an A on any of my papers that I had submitted even though I worked on it for a long time. After a deep reflection, I realized that I had been missing more as a writer than I had thought. There was so much more that I can improve when writing my essays. For example, this semester I learned that my thesis has to be narrow, that it is acceptable to deviate from the five paragraph structure, and to use questions as a tool to help me develop an interesting thesis.