Reflective Letter

Angela Kim

Writing 101

December 6, 2007

Reflective Letter

LOOKING BACK

Writing…a composition of the expressions of ideas put on paper. If only it were that easy. For the past several weeks in my writing 101 class, I have focused on developing and improving my writing skills. The class was assigned many different writing blogs for practice for improvement in writing, as well as expanding one’s knowledge in writing. Although writing is an important part of one’s education, it takes much practice, drafting, and editing in order to perfect one’s writing, and I believe that one must also enjoy writing in order to become a better writer.

I believe that during this quarter, I have improved in my writing abilities. Towards the beginning of the quarter, I learned to use templates for certain types of essays that followed the “They Say, I Say” format. From my pervious high school, Seattle Prep, I was mainly taught on structures to follow for writing. What I learned here at PSEC, differed because I learned to step out of the structural essays I was use to writing, and to follow a more opinionated outline of how I wanted the structure to be like. I believe that throughout this quarter, I have gained much more than I started out with.

The first piece of work placed in my portfolio is my first essay assignment about Bacon’s Rebellion. I did not do as well as I liked, even though I had used my time during class well. I got lazy and got into a bad habit where I did not try to achieve beyond the minimum requirements. If only I could go back in time and change this since I regretted the decision I had made. For this essay, I do not think I spent much time planning as much as I should have. Because I grew accustom to the way high school was, with very specific and detailed outlines where basically the preparation was already done for me, I was not as prepared as I wanted to be for college writing assignments, where I must put in my own details and specifics as well as make my own guidelines to follow in order to do well. Now that I look back on how I used to write, I realize that I have learned so much from this writing 101 class and I truly believe that I have improved my writing skills.

For the second piece of work, I chose to put in my second essay assignment about patriots and loyalists. I believe that I was more prepared and approached the essay much differently than what I had done for the first essay. During the time that was given in class, I spent most of my time talking with my teacher, Craig, asking him for advice and tips as well as discussing the assignment with my partner, Ramila. At home, my partner and I both worked on the essay separately and would put our ideas together during class the next day. I spent a lot more time going over the story and re-reading it to make sure to include every necessary detail. Therefore I believe this essay was a success in comparison to the first because I made sure to use my time wisely in school and outside of school. I would also like to point out that I actually ENJOYED writing this second essay because it fun creating and working with something I have never done before.

The final piece of work that I put into the portfolio is my final exam.

I have learned that compared to high school, college is very different. Although I may be surrounded by the same people, the educational process, assignments assigned, and grading are all very different. In college, a lot more freedom is given to students, in hope that the students will use the time given effectively, going at one’s own comfortable pace. Throughout the quarter, I strongly believe that I expanded my understanding of the writing process and developed newer, useful writing techniques as well. I also believe that the writing 101 course was very effective and helpful because I know that I have gained so much from all the practice.