Reflective Essay: My Writing Experience

Writing for me has always been a love and hate relationship since I could remember. Depending on the subject matter that I was writing about I would enjoy it because it suited my style or I loathed it because that specific style was uninteresting and boring to me. Learning certain writing formats were absolutely the worst part about writing when I first started learning in high school. As time pushed on and I grew older I began to develop an appreciation for writing that I did not have before; which is what led me to taking Writing 101 as my first full-fledged college course. I began this course with minimal writing experience because of what I failed to retain before, but now I am a stronger writer than I could have imagined with new skill sets that enhance my professional portfolio.
First of all, facing the facts,

I knew that writing would be the perfect introductory class to college because it is something that I was at least decent at compared to math, which I dumped over the years of not practicing it. However, when I first began this class I was not expecting it to be on such a strict writing style. Not being able to write an essay exactly how I wanted to regardless of subject threw me off. I had to learn not to use the word “you” or to write in different perspectives instead of one of my choosing. Obviously, this would throw off the equilibrium I had formed for writing in the first place, especially because I write storylines and dialogue for my video games. I had to adapt and since I was being forced to do so under strict guidelines I had to learn all I could from the different lessons associated with each paper and had to be critical when looking my papers over. I also thought that my grammar was decent, but quickly learned that I still had a lot of improvements to make. After I put extensive time into each paper and lesson that I completed, I have developed proper grammar and can adapt to different writing styles without struggle.
Similarly, learning a new writing format was a feat in itself.

Throughout high school I dealt with MLA format which I never truly understood because it was not emphasized on. Now that I am in college, however, it is a completely different story. I’m not going to say that I struggled immensely with APA format, but it did take some getting used to. Instead of freewriting where formats are thrown out the window for idea creation, I had to stick with set rules on how a paper should look and how information should be organized and presented. After a few papers with the grand finale of the “research supported cause/effect essay,” citing sources and notating references seemed much easier. Being able to use different techniques to cite sources will allow my future papers to flow and allow the reader to not be bored to death. Referencing sources properly will keep my papers from being flagged as plagiarized and authors will get their due credit because I know I would not like my work to be claimed as someone else’s. With all of the writing in the future I will need to do for college and my business writing, Writing 101 has ensured a bright start for all of

it.
Lastly, sharpening my skills in research will vastly improve the information pull that I can achieve. Being able to effectively find information pertaining to a certain topic will help me prove to my readers that I know what I am talking about. Not only that, obscure topics that people usually do not write about can be found with proper searching techniques. This will vastly increase my chances of finding information for other classes and my professional career. Writing 101 has forced me to find information, such as, how video games bring people together, that most articles are against. Since I had to find all of this information and support it, I have been able to find relevant and recent information that was backed up by other authors. I could have gone with easier topics but challenging myself so that when the time comes to actually dig for information, I will have no issues locating the information.
I still have many expectations that college will teach me many skills that will be beneficial to me, but for Writing 101 to be an introductory class it has taught me a great amount. From grammar to research this class has given me a perfect start into the world of college and professional writing. My career will benefit as I expand upon what I have learned from this class and continue to sharpen my skills. In the future I know I will call upon what I learned and use it effectively and efficiently.