Why Do I Learn English 101

A freshman college level English Composition course aims to improve students' abilities with writing, critical thinking, mechanics and usage, punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary. By studying English 101 at Luzerne County Community College, I will work diligently to improve in all of these aspects. My main focus is to develop skills specifically to create clear and concise thesis statements, strong and persuasive essays with cajolement, and to develop different perspectives on narratives and other essays. These writing skills may also improve my critical thinking and reading skills.

To begin with, I joined English 101 because I am doing general studies at the moment. Secondly, I took the placement test and the score I received was best suited for English 101. In addition, writing was never my strongest subject, but I am willing to put the effort to be a better writer. I expect to gain from taking English 101 is to argue and support a position, edit and proofread thoroughly, and understand the stages of the writing process. I’m sure I will have concerns in the future, but I’m not worried about them because I will seek for help when I’m in need. Furthermore, I will use all resources available such as going to the teacher for help, getting toured, EMCC Computer Commons, Buckeye Campus- Student Services, EMCC Library, and

Writing has always been my most difficult part of English. Reading, on the other hand, is something I could do all day; however, with writing, I grimace just thinking about it. It was not that I did not have anything to say, because I actually have quite a bit to say. I just could never figure out how to phrase what I had to say in just right way on the page. My mom taught me to read and write at a young age. After that, I would devour any book that I could get my hands on. However, I have had trouble with writing since it became more than just my alphabet and numbers.

As I look back on my English 101 experience, I have come to the conclusion that I have learned many new things that have improved my abilities as a writer. I have learned some new techniques that have improved my ways of approaching an essay. I learned all about the rhetorical appeals and how to apply them in my writing and how to look for them in a essay written by a author. I have also learned how to argue both sides of a argument, and how to look for reliable sources and to properly quote and site the author of the essay. I feel as if I have become a better writer and my improved writing skills are shown within each essay.

English 101 might seem like an easy course to take for some students. For other students such as myself, English 101 was one of the classes I feared and procrastinated on taking. Coming from an ESL background, English was the class I have always struggled with the most. I’ve always excelled in science/ mathematics courses. I prefer the correct answers to be facts and universal. Creativity is not my forte. The process of putting my thoughts down on paper in an organized manner, with correct punctuation, and citing works used, seemed like a complicated, tedious task before taking English 101 this summer.

When I took this English 101 class four months ago, I wanted to learn how to develop my writing skills and to communicate my thoughts clearly in writing using the English language. My parents are both French specking Cameroon, so I grew up in a French specking house. Before I assume everyone could understand what I was writing and I did not put too much effort to learn the technicalities of the English language.

For English 101, I expect to succeed even though I do not consider myself a very good writer. I do, however, consider myself a good student. I am a hard worker, and I am not accustomed to giving up when I fail. In order to succeed in English 101, I will manage my time, keep track of my assignments, and ask for help when I know I need it.

I’ve gotten used to spell check so all I have to do is spell the word somewhat right and then it’s spelled correctly. On the ACT during the writing portion, I struggled to spell words that I used to be able to spell perfectly. This led to me having to think of other simpler words to spell that I could put in place of the word I couldn't spell, which took up a lot of time. This also couples with the fact that I’m not that great at writing. I’m dreading taking more english classes in college as english has always been my worst subject, and I know that whatever I major in will not require me to take more english courses as I hate english as a subject. I don’t know why I’ve never taken a liking to english. If I had to guess it would be all the grammar rules, but I don’t think that that’s all I dislike about learning english. Part of it is having to write papers that I have no interest in writing, but I still write it just so I can get a decent grade in the class. I have no clue when my essay on Of mice and men will ever come in handy other than to get me a grade in english 9. On top of that, I dislike being forced to read, and I just dislike reading books in general. I’ve never come across a book that I’ve actually wanted to read. I think this is because I’m a slow reader, and I often find myself zoning out in the middle of the page, and just staring at the words in

English 101 was most certainly a learning experience for me. Of course, everyone says that about their English 101 course in college, but I’m being as honest as humanly possible— if it is, in fact, humanly possible (joke). In all sincerity, I was expecting my English 101 Professor, Dr. Bailey, to find a string of incoherencies in my writing and lack of structure, for I believed my writing was replete with; to the contrary, Dr.Bailey found an unexpected set of errors, and helped me realize why these particular errors were even occurring.

Throughout my academic carrer, I have had a history of struggling with English classes. I was excited to take English 101 because I believed it would most effectively teach me the basics of successful writing and communication. In high school, I developed mediocre writing skills and struggled with reading comprehension so I knew these topics would pose a problem in any English class I take. Despite the fact that I was in AP Language in high school, I learned very little and did not improve my writing and communication skills as much as I would have liked. In English 101 , I would like to change that and enhance my time management skills, grammar skills, and overall writing ability.

English 102 is my last English course before I do receive my degree. I have chosen to take this course now because I did English 101 last semester. I figured it would be best to take the courses back to back so that way the things that I learned in English 101 is still fresh in my brain. English is not my strongest subject to I thought it would be more beneficial to me to take them back to back. I hope to gain more knowledge about writing different style papers so that way I know how to do it in my future. I also hope to gain more confidence in my writing from this experience. My expectations for the course is to be able to gain as much knowledge as possible so it will help me through the rest of college. My expectation for myself is to work

English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.

I can not say English is one of my favorite subjects, Can you? I have many weaknesses when it comes to writing. Such as, run on sentences, not adding enough information, not being able to have my essay flow and make my word count and that’s just to name a few. Writing has and still is one of my worst subjects that I’m working on getting better at.

In the course English 101 at Capital Community College I was able to develop my writing very well. I enjoyed my first class at the college level but there are some things that I didn't find favorable. I put forth my best effort most of the semester and it's really shown in my grades. All my major essays have shown progress. Im satisfied with how far i have come as a writer and i do plan to take English 102.

I entered this class with a general idea of what was going to be expected of me and what I was going to have to accomplish in order to be successful, and I credit the extent of my preparation for this course to the extensive instruction and critiques provided for me by my high school teachers. By them I was taught the fundamentals of composition which allowed me the time and energy to more deeply understand the intricacies of good writing which I would be taught in college. Although I learned many new concepts in English 101, I feel as though I had a stable foundation to build on and enhance with more refined skills.