Essay 5

Looking Back
Writing has never been something that has come easy to me. Ever since I could remember I have struggled to piece together a coherent paper. All through high school and my first year of college I really struggled to write. Even today I dread writing papers, but after taking this class I feel like my writing has improved a lot. This class has helped me recognize my skills as a writer, as well as the areas I need to improve on. In this essay I will discuss my strengths and weaknesses as a reader, writer and critical thinker, as well as discuss my experience in this class and what I have gotten out of taking this class.
Before taking this class I would have said I have zero skills in reading, writing and critical thinking. Now I think a little differently about myself. I have realized that my skill as a writer is being creative and relating the writing to my life. I was only able to achieve this by being a critical thinker. I would read the stories assigned with an objective mindset. Critically thinking about the stories in an unbiased way truly allowed me to elaborate on how these stories that seemed so distant could truly relate to my life. I’ve also become better at reading a story and talking about how I feel, instead of re-telling the story. Before this class I had a tendency to summarize what I had read instead of telling about how it impacted me. Now I am able to read a story with a critical mindset, and answer the questions being asked correctly.
Although I have improved tremendously this last semester as a reader, writer and critical thinker, I still think there are a few areas I struggle with. Something I believe I can continue to improve on is writing my essays more fluidly and freely. I tend to get into a pattern of writing that is very rigid and boring, when I could be writing my essays a little more colorfully. Although I mentioned I’ve improved on reading stories and thinking about them critically, I think I could get even better at that. Sometimes I forget to read stories with an open mind and I make biases on them. I need to remember to keep an open mind while reading stories so I can give the best response possible in my essays. Overall, I think the number of things I need to improve on has decreased since I’ve taken this class.
I really enjoyed this class this semester. I liked how we got a good amount of notice before an essay was due. This gave me time to manage my schedule and find the right amount of time to write a good essay. I also really appreciated how we got more time to write an essay if we didn’t get it in on-time. One of my biggest problems in life is procrastination, so this leniency helped me a lot and I appreciated getting a second chance. I wouldn’t change anything about the course, I thought it was well put together and I got a lot out of it.