Reflection Essay
Emma Dean
English Comp 2 Section 617
Professor Hammet
Reflective Essay
Spring 2023
Word Count: 550
Reflective Essay
They never said this was going to be easy, and that is exactly what I have learned from taking this class course. I have worked through many struggles this semester of college such as troubles with formatting, deadlines, and especially citations. This last essay that I write will be a reflection of who I was as a writer before, during, and after taking this class. Before taking this course I was confident, lively in my writings, and loved typing out stories and essays. Now after taking this class I am not as confident in my writing skills, disheartened, and discouraged. But these struggles will not keep me from trying hard every time my hands touch the keyboard. I am determined to be the best writer I can be.
Coming into this class I was confident that I was going to pass with an A. I had high hopes due to always finishing my classes in middle, high school, and even Composition I with high A’s and getting excellent grades on my essays. All of my previous English teachers would give me good feedback and tell me I had potential in writing. I had even considered becoming a Journalist at some point in high school. It would only make sense that I would not struggle for just another skill class. Sadly, this has not been the case for my Composition II class.
Although I struggled with tiny details within my essays, such as punctuation and more including advanced sentence structures, my biggest struggle was hands down citations. In my first essay for this course, I was not entirely sure if I was citing correctly before turning it in, however because I followed the directions that I had used in high school and my previous college classes, I turned the project in believing that I did it correctly. I was wrong. When I went in to the tutor she aided me on my citations and revising my essay to turn in once more that was again returned back with unclear criticism about my essay mistakes.
It is tough for me to say if I actually got something out of this course. With my essays being returned with no real guidance as to what I had done wrong or right, it constantly made me feel confused and alone. Like my professor was not really there to help guide me. Being an online class posed even more of a challenge since I was unable to attend face to face meetings and lectures where undoubtedly more information can be gleaned regarding the requirements. I had to rely on tutors to assist me and show me what I had done wrong.
With all being said, this was the last class I needed to fulfill my state mandated requirements for graduating high school, along with being my final required English class to obtain my associates degree and I am happy to say I finally made it. This course felt long but went by fast. Even after going through this class it is clear to me that I still have things to work on. I will continue to grow in my writing skills by taking more classes in college, joining creative writing groups, and also by purchasing writing books to assist me in my journey as a writer.