Self-Assessment Final Reflection

Is one always in the process of learning? Of course! Every experience a person has makes them grow and develop. Through these experiences, they learn new materials, and at the same time, they learn about themselves as well. Learning to write is equally alike. As a person reads and writes more and more, a person is able to grow and develop their reading and writing skills. This summer was a growing experience for all students taking the writing 100 class. Personally, I believe I have grown as a writer.At the beginning of the bridge program, my CSP class was asked to write a paper. The topic was about why we decided to choose U of M as our college of choice. Writing the paper was a breeze and I felt confident that I would get a good grade. Unfortunately, when I was handed back my paper, I realized I earned a B on the paper. However, during the period of time where my professor was checking our papers, my Writing 100 class read David Bartholame’s article, Inventing the University .The first time I read this article, I did not understand what he was talking about and what his central theme way. However, after reading the article numerous times, breaking it down, outlining it, diagraming it, and writing about it several times, I was able to understand what he wanted the readers to know; a light bulb went off in my head. I saw the mistakes I made when writing my first paper for my CSP class. My essay demonstrated my lack of knowledge of the many various activities, and events held by the university.I was stuck in my common place, talking about only what I knew instead of seeking out information in order to expand my writing capabilities. I did not look on the internet to learn of any other information I could have used in the essay. Instead, I only wrote about what I knew. I also realized that organization was a key when writing an essay.   The largest critique I had on my essay was my organizational skills. My professor took off several points for jumping f rom topic to topic.Although my organizational skills were terrible when writing that essay, I believe I have gotten much better. This is due in part to Mrs. Allen. Throughout the writing course, she constantly encouraged us to think about our organization when writing essays, journal responses, and other writing activities. I’m grateful I learned how to better organize my papers, because during the second to last week of the intensive bridge program, I was asked to write a last journal for my CSP class. This time, we interviewed our parents and were asked to write about our experiences while nterviewing them. While writing this paper, I paid close attention to my organization. I made everything flow into each other. I also made sure that my paper went in chronological order so that it was easier to read and follow. My professor took about a week to grade my paper. During this time, I was able to ponder upon my essay. I knew what my professor was looking for, and I wrote for h im. I knew that I had done my best on the essay; my organization was solid and I had a nice flow. I finally received my essay back on August 10th, receiving a 25/25.I was ecstatic when I had received my grade. This is all thanks to my Writing 100 class and the hard work that I put into the class. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to take this class and learn to develop my organizational skills. Through taking this class, my writing skills increased immensely. When I wrote my first CSP essay, I had no idea that my organization was skewed and that I could improve. In my eyes, I thought that I did not need any help and that my writing was â€Å"perfect†, or at least, close to.However, I was able to learn that I needed to improve my organization in order to succeed as a college writer. Without this course, it would have been difficult for me to adapt to the college level writing required for an English class. The assignments we were required to read and write about taugh t me about my writing; I could see where I needed improvement. My experience demonstrates that with constant reading and writing, a person is able to continue learning more about their own writing in order to improve. There is always room for improvement.