Eliel 1

Eliel Cruz
Professor Olivia Zicherman
UWRT 1101
17 November 2014
My experience in College Writing
When I first came to your class it was a bit of a relief since it was my first day of college
and all my other classes had been full of more than a hundred people. But your class was small
which I instantly liked, because I was used to small classes. Although I really wasnt fond of the
icebreaker at the beginning of the class. It later made sense to me, since we do a bunch of group
work. I realized that it was better that we got past the awkward stage of not knowing your
classmates to begin with. So that later on we knew who we wanted to work with and we didnt
have to try and figure out if the partner we had was going to do his part of the project.
At first I believed that the class was going to be like any other English class, but after the
first few weeks I was proven wrong. We were writing daily, most of our assignments dealt not
with grammar but actual content. Which was new to me, since most of my teachers in high
school focused on grammar and meeting the minimal requirements. So whenever we had to
respond to other people based on their response on the assignment. It felt a bit strange having to
agree or disagree with people and then having to respond why you felt that way. Since all
throughout high school the only ever feedback I got was the grade the teacher gave me on the
assignment. But once I got past my personal feelings it really was interesting seeing what other
people had to say about my work. This really helped me improve as a writer, since I got to see
what other people had to say on the same subject. And when I was going to respond to them I

Eliel 2

had to put myself into their shoes and breakdown their thought process to how they came up with
their conclusion.
The class in itself is really great for improving ones writing. The Moodle responses allow
you to practice your writing outside of class and the readings which usually pertain to writing
allow you to explore other peoples thoughts on writing. The daybook activities also improved
my writing as well. The liberty of writing in your own daybook is really satisfying since you can
write and then have the option to share your thoughts on the subject being discussed. This is a
great thing in my opinion since there might be some subjects that you arent as knowledgeable in
and you might not have a long enough response. This way you dont waste your time in trying to
sound formal and you actually speak you mind. The freedom of being able to write anything you
want without fear of being forced to read your response in front of the class, in my opinion
allows for your thoughts to flow better and not sound too forced.
But the assignment that I am most proud of has to be the literacy narrative. It provided a
window of opportunity for me to go back and reflect on all my teachers that had help me along
the way. Although there were a few that stood out to me I couldnt think of one thing that set
them apart from each other. Many of them had stayed after school and helped me on
assignments, others had given me personal advice, and some I just liked in general. But in the
end only one stood out to me. She wasnt a teacher that stood out to me initially but the more I
thought about teachers that influence my writing I realized that she was the person that had
influence my writing the most. At first I didnt really know how to write down exactly what she
had to me. But I tried anyway and it wasnt the best first draft but it wasnt the worst, at least I
hope it wasnt. After the feedback to the first draft I felt really good about the direction of where

Eliel 3

the paper was headed. Once I finished the second draft did I realize that I was enjoying writing
the assignment and that I was actually proud of my work for once.
I think the reason that I enjoyed it so much has to be that it was probably my first
assignment where I controlled what I wrote and that nobody elses paper in the class was similar
to mine. Usually in high school the assignments that they would give me would usually be ones
in which the whole class would write a book report on the stories we had just finished. So to me
it didnt really matter how much thought I put behind it since it probably was going to be similar
the rest of the classs papers. So when we were assign the literacy narrative project, I had for the
first time actually think about if the content was any good, if I liked where the direction the paper
was headed, if I was able to put my experience onto the paper in a manner that I was content
with.
Which is funny enough the same thought process that is going on with my mind right
now with the final portfolio. I have to go back and analyze each paper to see if they are at a place
that I would consider presentable. Do they express my thought process well enough that anybody
can pick it up and know exactly what they are reading? And whether or not I want to include it in
my actual portfolio. All of these things I have taken account for but I still have a longs ways to
go before I actually have my portfolio ready.
Although not everything in this class has been easy for me and although I have many
struggles the one struggle that I would say affects me the most has to be turning in assignments
on time. It wasnt anybody elses fault it was my personal own since nobody can hold me down
and force me to write a paper. I know that its for a grade but I always find a way to convince
myself that I dont need to write at that exact moment and that I have plenty of time left. But

Eliel 4

after a certain point I manage to convince myself that its too late to write it. This is a personal
problem that I have always dealt with but I fell as if Ive gotten better a turning in things.
Aside from Moodle responses which I enjoyed the least, just because I dont like to write.
Everything else has been enjoyable, but what I most enjoyed was the amount of interaction I got
with my classmates. Since day one you made us interact with one another and I appreciate that. It
was a relief from having to sit quietly through a one hour lecture with a hundred plus students to
being able to talk with talk to my friends in a smaller class like in high school.
But the biggest accomplishment this class has given me is helping me grow as a writer. I
used to think that writing was all about meeting the requirements and having correct grammar.
However throughout the semester I have seen how much I have grown writer. I no longer just
focus on the length and grammar, but also the content. I now try and see if what I am writing is
pertains to the subject, I try and bring things together and try to arrange it so everything flows
together correctly. All of these things I disregarded prior to the class, so its clear as day to me
how much my writing has changed. This class has provided me with the necessary knowledge to
be able to understand the world around me in a different view and to express my thoughts in a
proper manner.