Wednesday, May 4, 2011

p4

Since the start of your academic life, writing is emphasized each and every year. Yet year after year the ideas of what writing is, changes. In your first years of school you are taught the alphabet and then move on to composing words and reading them, later yo are taught to put words together and create a sentence; a compound of words that includes a "who" and "what". No one ever told you that it had to be interesting or that it had to make sence, as long as it was spelled correctly. This idea was not changed, but expanded all throughout the rest of my school years. I graduated highschool with the idea that in order to keep a teacher satisfied you have to make sure that your punctuation, spelling, and grammar was correct.
  My firsst year of college i ended up needing to take a remedial writing course because i wasn't a strong enough witer. I agreed with that label put on me by our schools academic system. I failed the class one semester because the proffessor was theoretically unable to teach, he knew about what he was teaching, he just didnt know how to explain it. The second semester, i jumped back into the same course, aprehensive and scared to the point of desperation. I wanted to pass the course so badly, but was overwhelmed with fear of not being able to complete the work needed. I started off pretty well, the teacher was a very enthusiastic, involved, and motive person. She had the class read articles about how well educated a student is in writing and reading their freshmen year of college, and the different theories in a students reading and writing abilities. Where after, we would discuss the articles among the class, i have to admit, during the discussions i was not only intrigued but surprised at all the different ideas, contradictions and experiences, all withdrawn from those articles. Then came the projects, I was very excited because we were given the privilege of choosing what we wanted to write about, usually i would just have to write about what ever it is that the teacher said, but this was a new and enjoyable experience. So many ideas came to mind, but i could only choose one, being that i am a very proud person, i chose to write about where it is we learn from and my bilingualism, it all comes from ethnic, religious, and social backgrounds. i thought my projects were pretty well written, that is, untill i got feedback from both classmates, and my teacher. She had so many ideas on how to make my paper ten times better. I then realized what the word "edit" actually means. You see, in high school editing was just correcting grammar, bad spelling, and adding punctuation. Thats all that most of us as students are taught to do, which is why alot of us are not very succsessful that first year at college. I learned that "editing" was not only about correcting, it was about adding and explaining. Editing was about interveing within your ideas and bringing out some more of them, while explaining and giving examples, all this just to make your paper better, not by making it longer but by making it more interesting.I had so many ideas on things to write about, yet at the end i might still end up failing my writing course once again, i dont know what it is, i just dont feel motivated when i am not in the class room. Being in that class influences me to simply, write. Ive been given so many chances to pass, yet i dont take any of them, i try little by little, but trying is not only good enough, thats what i learned this semester from this class, it was not taught to me, but i learned it. You can try all you want, but it doesnt mean you will succeed. The only success in wrting is when you put out everything you have to offer, dedication, will, determination, aprehension of time, motivation, these are all x-factors in your success.
 This semester has been a wonderful experience, now that it is over, i consider myself a 100% improved writer, i now enjoy writing when before i dispised it. Im glad i got to be a part of this experience, i would not have been as successful if it wasnt for the incredibly helpful teacher, she unlike most, mativates you and actually wants you to pass. The fellow classmates that helped eachother by giving feedback and asking questions to improve eachothers work. And the class was great because of the ipads, i dont know how well we would have been able to apehend our work it was not for the ipads that were lended to us so that we may succeed. This semester i leave filled with satisfaction, all my life i have greatly hated reading and writing, and now this class has opened a stream of ideas and possibilities that can come from within myself in order to achieve success not only in writing, but in anything i set my self to do.

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