Urie Conis
LTC. Pennie Ticen
ERH 101-01
Reflection of ERH 101
When I began the summer transition program, I was uneasy with writing. I had no idea of what to expect from college level writing courses and found myself in an anxious state of mind. I had always found writing to be easy in high school, but my lack of experience in college level classes left me questioning my skills. I didn’t know whether I would be writing 20-page reports, or if there would be any change from the two-page average in high school. It was only when I first walked into the classroom at the start of the program, that my anxiousness washed away and was replaced with a sense of relief. I was met with individuals who were either equally as unprepared to write, or even more unprepared than I. At that moment, I knew I was prepared for the course, and thought success would know doubt be found in my future. This feeling of confidence was further reinforced when I completed the first homework, and when I wrote the first essay.
As I have written and read throughout ERH 101, I’ve learned a great deal of things and learned to apply these concepts whilst writing for college. Before learning in this class, I had no idea what a discourse community was, or how to properly analyze a paper. After working with these concepts and applying them to my writing, I was able to attain a further understanding such ideas. The Malcolm X assignment in particular made me confident in my ability to analyze and understand future essays I may encounter, and I felt most comfortable with this particular style of writing. I was also happy with the results of the first essay, but the third essay was far more laden with the issues I still suffer from now.
Despite what I’ve learned throughout the weeks whilst taking this course, there are elements of writing I still struggle to grasp. Within my works, I’ve often been dumbfounded by how I should approach transitions between the body paragraphs of any given essay and was especially plagued with this malady whilst writing the third essay of the course. I felt I understood the nature of discourse communities enough, yet I was baffled when trying to connect the ideas to the works of either, Gee, Harris, or Swales. After long deliberation, I was finally able to achieve common ground with the ideas put forth by Harris, and create a thesis statement, but the process was arduous. I also struggle with the planning stage of my writing, often procrastinating heavily before beginning work upon projects. I know such dawdling will spell doom in the future as I approach the rat line, yet somehow, I cannot overcome this weakness. I was able to be timely in my endeavors with ERH 101, but only due to the course being my soul focus during the summer transition program. If I’m to succeed, I must overcome the elements of writing that ail me and keep focus on the tasks I must complete.
In order to be more prepared for ERH 102 and any other classes that hold writing to a great standard, I must be progressive in my writing habits. I must write with haste and precision never losing sight of the task at hand. I tend to go on tangents or dose off when writing for papers that I have been stuck on for hours. I want to be sure that my writing sessions don’t drag on for longer than necessary and write only what is related to the topic. If I succeed in overcoming my adversities, then writing will be no more than trivial task that I can use to demonstrate my prowess within various fields of study.