This semester I was in the English 102 course. English 102 was centered around a human rights issue of choice, and all of my writing projects in this course were centered around the right to bodily autonomy and abortion rights for women. I enjoyed this English class because I am passionate about guaranteeing human rights, especially for women. Some ways I improved as a student overall in English 102 are that I learned how to do an annotated bibliography, which was quite a struggle. I would say that was the hardest writing project, but it did grow my knowledge. I also learned the correct way to cite a source is APA format with correct grammar. Some challenges I faced were being repetitive in my writing, especially in writing project three. It was hard to be specific without being too repetitive. Another challenge was procrastination overall, but the professor made sure she kept the class on track with different checkpoints for every writing project.
We had three formal writing projects in this course, not including this reflection. One of the strengths of my writing project was that it was well-written and formal. It definitely got the point across and reached the point of the assignment in discussing rhetoric. I would change the word count of this essay because I didn't quite reach the goal, and I would also expand more on the evidence I used and paraphrase my introduction quote more effectively. I was also told that my logo paragraph was not the strongest. Some of the strengths of my writing project two, the annotated bibliography, were that I followed the structure of summary, evaluation, and reflection very well. Something I would change is to add more evaluative discussion and less summarization. Also, some of my sources were too broad and from a global perspective, and my grammar was pretty off. Some of my strengths in writing Project Three were that I did a good job of being specific in my analysis of my evidence. I also made sure my arguments supported my thesis and were relevant. Something I would change is my topic because I have written about it so much in my education. I want to stray off from this in the future.
A positive moment for me this semester in English 102 was completing my writing project three. I felt proud of it, and I believe it was one of my best pieces of writing. I also feel proud of the amount of research I did and the thought I put into my topic. A challenge I encountered during this semester was managing my time effectively between my writing projects and other work in my other classes. It gets hard balancing it when I am not as passionate about my other classes. There were times I felt overwhelmed trying to balance out researching sufficient sources, drafting, and revising while meeting all deadlines. But I did learn to break my tasks into smaller parts. This year, and this semester, my view of education has shifted. I used to think writing classes were more about fixing grammar and being in the right structure, but English 102 showed me that my writing can be a tool for advocacy that I am passionate about. I learned my writing can be used to persuade and lead to change. I have also gained a lot more respect for the role of research in the Arizona State Library. The resource the school provides us with is very vast and can be confusing to navigate.
Overall, English 102 pushed me to think more critically, accept that there are valid counterarguments to my beliefs, and express myself and my controversial beliefs in writing. I did appreciate the focus on picking a human rights issue we are individually passionate about. My writing felt purposeful and real. I will be leaving this course with stronger skulls and more confidence in my voice and writing.