My name is Lara Abbadi, and my portfolio is a representation of all that I have learned and accomplished in com101. I talk about a variety of things, from what truly makes me the person I am to the hardships I have had to deal with in my lifetime. I talk about the people and places that have made an impact on me, and some political topics as well. All throughout my school years I didn't ever mind English/writing classes. I actually enjoyed them because sometimes depending on the topics, you get to write about things you've never been able to speak about verbally. Certain topics Professor McGuire required really made me get in touch with my personal experiences and why I am the way I am which I truly appreciated. My favorite paper would be the first one, 'Beyond my Smile', I enjoyed this one because I got the opportunity to speak about myself without anyone interrupting or telling me what they think. I got the chance to talk about myself in a way I viewed myself and the way I wanted people to view me. When I was younger I would talk about myself so much everyone would refer to me as conceited, but as I grew up I stopped making things about me completely. I went from a girl that thought the world revolved around her to a girl that makes sure everyone's okay before herself. I think that's growth. Little things make me the way I am and that's what I've learned from that assignment. On the other hand, my least favorite assignment was the political topic one, 'Why the Hate?', I truly was so uninterested in the entire topic. Personally I'm not a news and political kind of person and if I'm not interested in something it's so hard to write about. I just put it into a perspective that I could be a little intrigued in writing about. I put my beliefs in the paper and said what it meant to me for opposite genders in the working world. Other assignments touched base on places that had an impact on my life, that was a good paper too. A quick answer I would have gave is "I just go to work and school." but giving it more thought I realized a lot more places have meant something to me. People have also taught me a lot, I actually learned a lot about the friend I chose to write about in one of the papers. Asked questions and really got into conversations I don't usually talk about with my friends. As close as we were I felt as if that assignment made us even closer. These assignments really made a difference in my eyes.