Reflection One

My Writing Journey Begins

When reflecting on my elementary through high school education, I feel overwhelmed by sadness, and regret. Growing up, I was a very distracted child who preferred staring at a wall over paying attention to my teachers. It was hard for me to feel interested in academics, especially in a home with little support, and schools with overwhelmed educators who aren’t always trained on how to properly work with children with learning disabilities. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized the ramifications of not taking my education seriously. Even then, I felt like a lost cause, and I still didn’t take my work as seriously as I should have. A lot of the time when I’m working on assignments now, I feel like I lack many of the foundational skills that my peers have acquired throughout their years of schooling.

English was the one subject I took even a little bit seriously, because reading and writing comes somewhat naturally to me. I've loved reading since a young age, and have done a lot of creative writing. In middle school I joined theatre, debate, and the newspaper team. I continued doing those into high school, and joined the journalism and yearbook class. Outside of English class, most of my writing can be attributed to those classes. I have quite a bit of experience in speech writing, and have even won a few awards because of some that I have written!

My junior year of high school I was put in a class with one of the most intense English teachers that I have ever had. I learned a lot about the different writing styles, and essay formatting in her class. Her class was definitely a challenge for me, and many of my peers as well. Most of the work in her class was based on a specific book the class would collectively read. Our assignments were essays, Socratic seminars, quizzes, and tests surrounding the books. Despite it being a tough class, we were still determined to have fun. We pulled a senior prank where we pulled all of the tables and chairs out of her classroom and put them outside. She let us have class outside and it was such a memorable experience to write our essays outside.

Here is a link to a video of all the fun: OSOTA 1st Senior Prank

I’m hopeful that this class will help me develop my writing skills further. I’m a focused individual, and an extremely hard worker compared to the way I performed when I was younger. I have learned to value my education, and I know that writing is such a key portion of what I need to learn. I would like to practice the way I transfer my writing skills in this class to other classes, and to the outside world as well. I would really love for this class to transfer into the way that I take notes for all my classes. I would like to be more thorough, and clear when taking notes.

I currently work at Starbucks, and have been promoted to a trainer. I am working on becoming a shift supervisor soon, and I know that my writing and communication skills will have to be up to par as I continue down this path. I’m confident that this class will help me achieve my goals for my written communication. I look forward to being able to watch and track my growth with my portfolio.