Before these past two semesters, I never had a really high opinion on English as a subject. I was never necessarily horrible at it, but it was not my best subject either. I more often than not just put minimal effort into my assignments and called it a day. However, now that this semester was seemingly my last semester taking an English class, I feel quite bad that I took it for granted for all these years. I was actually starting to enjoy it just last semester, and all I needed was to end up producing a high quality essay that received a high mark to realize that I wasn’t so shabby after all. Needless to say, my writing process has changed a lot ever since I wrote my very first essay in elementary school.

My writing process has almost come full circle in a sense. I started off just writing, not really planning what I would write but rather just typing away on whatever topic I was to write on with whatever research I was required to do. In a sense I was typing before I was thinking. Last semester, I had a similar journey in developing as a writer as I did this semester, and I had developed the skills to plan out my writing beforehand, and fill in the blanks with high quality writing afterward. It would have been a satisfying conclusion if my writing development had ended there, but alas I continued to evolve once this semester came about. One major improvement I made was that of doing my assignments in a café like Starbucks. It really helped boost my focus and improved my thinking while I was there. Furthermore, I combined my prior two methods of writing into one for an optimal form of doing my assignments that works specifically for me. Now, I do some research, get an outline going in my head that I think about as I write, and just write whatever comes up into my head but employ some critical analysis throughout so that I am actually thinking before I type. To add on, I am always thinking of the course learning objectives as I write. All in all, my theory of writing has improved drastically since I entered college, so much so that I enjoy writing a lot now.

The first piece of writing I did for this class was the letter of introduction. Since that was more personal, I did not have to think so much for that, but I did do it inside a Starbucks which allowed me to stay focused on the assignment and get it finished quickly rather sit on it for a while and procrastinate. What came next was the technical description, and that did require me to use my writing skills to their full extent. Once again, I worked on this assignment in Starbucks, and that allowed for maximum focus as I did it. I looked up a lot of details about the AirPod Pros, and kept my Microsoft Word window and a Google Chrome window opened side by side so I didn’t have to switch back and forth. This also allowed me to keep writing and just glance at the Chrome window for more information, and that really helped me keep my train of thought. My issue however was that I did not really think that the words I was using in my piece would be unknown to most readers, so I did not have enough definitions when all was said and done. Finally, for the Lab Report Analysis assignment, I unfortunately could not do the assignment in a Starbucks, but rather had to do it at home. Immediately it was apparent that my focus was far worse, as I was on my phone after each paragraph that I wrote. However in terms of the writing itself, I did the same thing as the last assignment and had two windows open for the lab report and Word. This time however, I really tried to make sure that what I was writing made sense, and there were no major errors in my writing process. I believe I did a good job in ensuring this, however this time around there were many grammatical errors because I was in a rush. I know that this would not have happened if the circumstances were different, so it does not impact my morale of my writing all in all.

Finally, I made it a big deal to try to achieve as many course learning objectives as I could in all my writing pieces. There were a few in particular that I nailed every time, and a few that I just could not get no matter what. To begin, I think I did well over time in the second objective of “Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.” Each assignment I worked upon the errors of my prior assignment to have the most optimal strategy possible, so I think I ended up doing that objective quite well. Furthermore, I was able to do the six objective as well. “Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias,” was the details of the objective, and by using the school’s library database to find good articles and journals, I learned how to use it effectively as well as got good sources for my essays and assignments. Unfortunately however, “Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes,” is the fourth learning objective and I did not do it so well. I only really collaborated in group assignments or when it was mandatory. When solo assignments were due, I talked to almost nobody for help or feedback, and I think I should really work on that in the future.

All in all my writing has improved a lot and I am proud of who I am as a writer now. It was an honor to have Professor Davidow as my final English professor, and I hope I was a good student for her as well.