In my first writing class at George Fox University, I felt overwhelmed by all of the reading, blog posts, and written essays. However, as I reflect on Sara’s writing class, I realize that I enjoyed every minute of the crazy schedule. Her class pushed me to work harder, think faster, and be accountable for my grade.
Sara’s class has helped me to improve my writing in many areas. The class taught me to be thorough in my research and creative in my writing. For example, in order to fulfill the required word count, I learned to either research my topic more thoroughly, or become more creative by adding a personal narrative. Most importantly this semester, I learned to not just plop a quote into my paper, but rather summarize the quote and relate it to my topic. Honestly, this was one of the greatest lessons that I learned during Sara’s class, and I was able to apply it to many different writing assignments this semester.
Even though I have learned many valuable writing lessons through Sara’s class, I still struggle with a few areas in my writing. My biggest struggle in writing is my tendency to ramble on in my attempt to make my point, only confusing my writer all the more. My goal for my writing is to learn to make cleaner, more concise points, starting now.
Every writing project was enjoyable in its own unique way; however, I would have to choose the Explanation Essay as my favorite of all. I enjoyed writing this essay because it gave me the opportunity to observe others and also write from my own experience. I didn’t feel like I had to make things up or wrack my brain for ideas that were not there. Rather, the ideas flowed to me from my own personal experience, and my writing came from my heart.
Last of all comes the essay I dreaded the most, and no, it was not the research essay. Of all of the assignments given in this class, I struggled with the Review Essay most of all. This essay haunted me the most not only because the topic was so very deep, but also because my personal experience relating to the topic was deeply personal. I felt as if my personal history should be included in the essay, yet when it was, the essay became too much like a narrative on my life. Without my personal history, however, the essay lost some of its context as well as its character. In the end, I left most of my personal story out, attempting to summarize it in as few words as possible. Additionally, I made careless spelling errors in my writing, and used way too many blocked quotes to support my points. Overall, I was very disappointed with my work. However, through my mistakes, I have been able to improve my writing. As the saying goes, “live and learn!”
As I sit here with my cup of tea on the couch and write, I think about how far I have come with my writing process thanks to committed teachers such as Sara and Melanie. Without them, I would still be lost in my world of ramblings and blocked quotes. So a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to them for lifting me out of my writing rut!
#bloggingatcollege 