School Challenges and Academic Evolution: A Personal Journey

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Before I came to UNCP, I went to a school called High Point Central (HPC). We were labeled as one of the poorest schools in the state because we sat in the Guilford County Public School System. At HPC I had a teacher named Mrs. Gilmore she was the first real English teacher that really taught us how to write. I went into the class with my “9th Grade writing” (as she would call it) as a Jr. it was the first experience I had ever gotten a horrible grade on my writing. The very first thing she told us was that “If you do not know how to write in MLA you are not going to make it past 2nd semester in college.” This struck me in a way that I knew I had to get my writing together, the last day in her class of my senior year she told me to watch …show more content…

Through the last 4 papers I feel like I’ve improved on each one as the percentage of the grade was increased. On each paper I feel my development as a writer has increased not dramatically like I would have hoped but I’m starting to see what professors are looking for. Some of the changes I had made were using the Writing Centre more often: to have another eye pick up on things that I would miss while writing my essays. At the beginning of the semester my paragraphs would be off track and short not giving the description and evidence needed to prove the point that was asked. I also feel like I’ve been able to change my whole perception about writing, I’m starting to write in a more serious tone as well as giving the strong backbone to what I’m being asked to write about. The more I wrote the better I felt about the vocabulary I was able to use. Throughout my entire life I have never been a strong reader, and my vocabulary has been very limited, which has affected my grade at an embarrassing level. Through this semester however I have started reading the school paper as well as many of my favorite novels, making it easier to comprehend the articles given to us to explain and prove my point. I feel like now ending English 1050 and moving to English 1060 I feel more confident and I’m very glad to stick with the same professor in the …show more content…

I am a huge video game freak and it was such a bad addiction to where I’d put it before my studies. Once I realized what had been going on I decided to leave it at home so I could focus back on what was more important. Another one of my weaknesses is not being a very strong reader. Through my college career I intend on expanding my vocabulary and becoming better at comprehending on what I’m reading. This way I can feel more confident about my skills as a college student but as well as a strong writer. My strengths are that I can organize my essays much better which can lead to writing the paper as a hassle free assignment. Planning out what I’m writing has proved to be an effective way to writing better essays. Even though the grades I’ve gotten back have not been impressive I do know I’m on the right track to success. During the beginning of the semester I was dealing with a lot of roommate situations, I couldn’t focus on studies because I was worried about being tormented in the room. I couldn’t sleep through the night because I was worried about having stuff thrown on me or just being marked on. So I feel like if I were to start fresh with the roommate that I have now I feel like I would’ve done a lot better with the assignments. I truly feel like if I did my best work I would have the best grade possible, but I know that I didn’t use a lot of the things that were offered. I also feel like my

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