Main Reflection

Confidence Overcoming Fear

When first beginning ENC 1101, composition one, I was hesitant and fearful that I may not be as progressed as some of my peers. This was a tremendous concern to me, and led me to start off the semester as an introverted student. Which is not something that usually used as a reference for me, but considering that I was not too confident about my writing, let alone English skills, I allowed myself to just sit as part of the crowd.

                Being a part of the crowd was something that comforted me in the beginning, and even for a while during our class’ meetings. I enjoyed that we worked in groups, and that only one person per group had to speak. Although we all shared our opinions and only one person voiced them, I was content. It wasn’t until we were a couple of months in that I was working with one other student in my group that didn’t like to talk in front of the class either, so it was up to me. I was nervous at first, but once I begun to spoke it was like I gained more knowledge about the topic and was able to interact with the class. It was an experience I had never known before, and from that point on I was more excited about participating in class.

                Not only did I have a drive to participate, but I was actually excited about learning new techniques and skills from our book. I was enthralled to see that there were a lot of opinions about the authors and not all of them were agreeing with the content that was being discussed. I found this interesting because I was able to see how a debate could be formed and how to converse about different  points while respecting each other’s views.

                Apart from seeing a change in class participation, I also began to notice some other things. Like I said, when I began this class I was a bit nervous and did not know exactly what to expect, as this was my first college English class. On the first day, I was overwhelmed by the amount of work we would have to complete, but as time went on I was able to see that nothing was rushed and everything was given an appropriate amount of time.

                We began with our Literacy Narrative assignment. This required us to think back to all of our past experiences with reading and writing. When first presented with this, I was a bit skeptical and didn’t know exactly where to start. I was relieved when Professor Longhany put his Literacy Narrative up online so that we would have an example. Once I saw his work, I was able to begin. After this it was a smooth ride, turning in drafts, reviewing our peers works, and then finally submitted the final copy.

                Next we were informed about the essay contest we were to do. This excited me, having the opportunity to pick something we wanted to write about. I choose to write about self- bullying and bully prevention. Although this was a new and different topic, I was excited about using the different skills we learned during class for this. I worked hard on these papers but up until now I had never really seen my hard work pay off until this class.

                Then we were given the Writing Process project, this was my favorite. I liked how we were actually told to pay attention to the process in which we wrote, and were able to analyze it. Even though producing this paper was tedious, overall it enabled me to see what my strong and weak areas in writing were and by learning the different lessons presented in class, I was able to overcome these and produce an A+ paper. 

                Lastly was our Ethnography essay. This was an interesting assignment, it was one that for the first time required us to observe and analyze something beyond ourselves.  It revealed to me incorporating your observations and analysis through your writing can be done no matter what the prompt of the assignment is. This is a great skill to now be able to have, and I am thrilled that this class had pushed me as hard as it did.

                 Although I have seen a positive change in my writing, I still believe that I can now only progress. I am now comforted that I have an effective writing process and now I am excited to start putting that to use in all of my classes. I have also become a stronger writer because of the different skills and lessons we discussed in class. I know that many people experience writer’s block and that identifying that is half the battle. Once I am now able to see this come into play, I can now set aside time to go through my thoughts and order them in a productive way and eliminate ideas that are preventing me from advancement. This class has certainly made me a better writer, and was a great experience to be able to have. I loved how it worked at a pace that was manageable, and that we were given the opportunity to have peer reviews, because we were able to gain a better idea of the assignments and gain helpful criticism that only made our papers better. 

                In conclusion, I have come to see that this course has had a beneficial effect on me. I have become a more confident writer. This class has led me to the realization that I am not a poor writer, but I was doubtful about my skills, and it was through Professor Longahny’s critique and analysis I was able to gain self-assurance. This class has definitely changed my understanding of writing and has made it clear to me that I am capable of producing well-written papers, and that is something that I have really come to value and truly appreciate.