Reflective Essay: What I Learned In My Writing Class

I used to be a good writer, what happened? I’ve thought about this every time I’ve been in the middle of a paper struggling to finish it. Attending the Minneapolis public school system for most of my life I had never taken a writing oriented course before college. My English and history classes were the closest thing to a writing class. Things like grammar and mechanics weren’t a high priority in these classes, as long as you got your main point or summary across and it made sense you’d get an A. This created a false sense of confidence in my writing skills which were quickly challenged when transitioning into college.

The transition into college came as quite a shock. In both my history and writing class, we were quickly assigned papers, my old high school habits quickly returned and I procrastinated until the night before it was due. Hastily, I would write an average paper, look over it

once just to make any obvious grammar/mechanical errors and turn it. After receiving my first papers back in writing and history, it became very clear that I was going to have to work a lot harder for an A.
Since I have been a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder my first semester, and over the course of my stay I have grown and learned more that I thought possible. I came to this University from Washburn High school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, already knowing that I wanted to do something in the field of Biology. Although I’ve only taken one Writing course, going through the English program has taught me so much more than stuff about literature and language, it has taught me how to be me. I have learned here how to write and express myself, how to think for myself, how to find the answers to the things that I don't know, and how to integrate my new acquired writing skills in other classes. Most importantly, I have learned how important literature and language are.
When I started at CU, I thought I was going to spend the next 4 years reading classics, discussing them and then writing about them. That was what I did in high school English courses, so I didn't think it would be much different here. In most all my classes I did read, discuss, and write papers; however, I quickly found out that that there was so much more to it.
My writing course also taught me how powerful the written word and language can be.

Words tell so much more than a story. Literature teaches about the self and the world surrounding the self. My first paper allowed me to go in depth about the surrounding world/environment of my trip to the Arctic tundra over the summer. From this one class I’ve learned about different styles of writing and becoming proficient in applying my writing skills to other subjects. By writing about what we learn and/or what we believe in many of our papers, we are learning how to express ourselves.

All throughout my life I was never motivated when it came to writing, as a result there was a lot of resistance transitioning in college level writing. Growing up I was more of a science and mathematics type of student, I love writing about factual information that has a clear and straightforward answer. When it came to writing thie inquiry paper in which I could pick a historical topic of my choice and research upon it, I feel I was able to spread my wings and go in depth with my vast knowledge on the

subject.
I know that my ability to write and express my ideas have grown stronger throughout this semester. I have always struggled to put my thoughts on paper in a manner that is coherent and correct according to the assignments. I can remember being told numerous times in high school to "organize your thoughts" or "provide more support and examples". These are the things that I have worked on and improved over the semester and I feel that my work shows this.
The papers I wrote when I first started here at CU Boulder were monotonous and short. In these early papers, I would just restate what we learned in class and what I had found in my research. I struggled in formulating my own ideas and supporting them with the works of others. I have learned how to write various styles of papers in different forms and different fields. I struggled using MLA format when citing sources in a few of my papers. Now I feel confident that I could write a paper about anything and know how to cite and format it properly.
By improving all these qualities and factors in my writing, I feel that I have become a stronger writer over the past semester. Hopefully, I can continue to use what I have learned, further expand my knowledge on this subject, and implement my writing skills in the field of my major.