Semester Reflection
I have learned so much this semester. I started off knowing nothing about academic writing; nor how to cite in all of these styles. Through this writing class, I've grown not only as a writer but as a person. There were many assignments that made me go out of my comfort zone, I've never written a seven-page paper before. I have discovered that creative writing fits me the most; this is what feels more natural. The words flow onto the page and I can complete it in a short amount of time. Academic writing is a bit harder. Having to go back and forth between my research and my paper can get a bit frustrating; making sure I am citing correctly is what really gets me. I can confidently say my writing is better than it was at the beginning of the semester.
My personal mission statement taught me about myself. This assignment was a reflection of who I am and through it; I discovered so much. Even though I do like it, and I am proud of my work, I feel this might be the project that needs the most improvement. I went into it knowing very little about college writing. This is also when I found out it is not okay to use my brother with an English degree as an editing source but in my defense, it was not stated in the syllabus at the time and I didn't know we couldn't do that.
The annotated Bibliography is where my writing journey began and I got a taste of academic writing. How to cite, use MLA, and the correct formatting. I liked this assignment because I've never used a database before and it was fun looking through and reading all of the articles.
The academic article is when it really started to get serious. This assignment taught me the most. It turned out to be a lot harder than I expected; this was the project I struggled the hardest on. Finding the motivation to keep going after the fourth page was really hard and led to writer's block. Citing correctly and using the right format was also a challenge. after submitting my paper it turned out my in-text citations were off and it was confusing to fix. I also learned how powerful semicolons can be although I am still not 100% sure how to use them. I went to the writing center for the first time during this assignment, and it was really helpful. They helped in planning out my paper and finding ways to expand on it.
In the future, I plan on continuing my college education, So my writing journey has just begun. I also plan on becoming an art teacher; with this job comes a lot of writing. Developing lesson plans, presentations, and professional emails. This class also taught me that I enjoy creative writing and freedom of it. I love journalling and the therapy that comes with it.
In conclusion, I have gained a lot from this class. I have grown in my writing but have also learned that I can always improve. I have a deeper understanding of the academic writing process and plan on furthering my knowledge throughout my writing career.