My Reflection

As a returning student to Pasadena City College, taking an English course was dreadful.
English has been one of the most challenging subjects growing up and I quickly learned that I
needed this course in order to fulfill my long term goals. I had high hopes with joining the
STACC Program because I would have more guidance and support from my professor and
classmates. Since English is such a challenging subject for me I knew I had to dedicate myself
from day one. I set a goal to have all my assignments turned in on time and to not have any
setbacks so I can end this course with an A. Most of my successes were with assignments
related to the books because I learned how to utilize my notes and incorporate them into my
assignments. I challenged myself with writing my first educational autobiography but also
enjoyed strategizing ways to write my thoughts into proper formats. Another challenge that was
difficult for me was the research project which required communicating with different
personalities within my group as well as doing our individual work that correlated with our
group work. This English class has not only given me grammar lessons but most importantly has
taught me to become a better writer and use other tools I wouldnt normally view as resources.
I had various reading material throughout the semester and enjoyed utilizing new ways of
note taking for each reading assignment. At first, annotations were foreign to me but I eventually
used different resources to better understand the meaning, including Making Annotations: A
User's Guide. I learned that annotating was an extended process to note taking. This involved
reading the material then going back and reading the material again but taking thorough notes
during the second reading. Initially, I thought it was a long process that was time-consuming and
I didn't feel the need to re-read chapters when I could annotate while reading it the first time. I

consistently practiced to help familiarize myself with annotations. I came up with different ways
to reference important information such as circling the names of characters, underlining main
points, highlighting quote references and using the margin for questions and opinionated
statements. I noticed when reading the chapters a second time; I caught on to more details that I
didnt catch the first time I read it. After becoming more familiar with annotating, it made it
much easier to write my responses to the diary entries in Freedom Writers as well as keeping
track of the characters stories in Madonnas of Echo Park. I have succeeded in learning how to
annotate based off of the feedback on my assignments with the books we read throughout the
semester. I noticed it has become easier with consistent practice but was also not as challenging
as other assignments Ive had throughout the semester.
When I first learn what an educational autobiography was, I went into panic mode. I
thought this was where I was going to fail. I always knew a proper writing essay form involved
an intro, body, and conclusion, but I didnt understand how I was going to transfer my thoughts
into my writing or how to support my points into a proper format. Needless to say, I wrote at
least eight rough drafts before turning in the first draft assignment. I decided I needed to come
up with a strategy that would help me break down my thoughts into sections that would correlate
with the required format. I ended up writing an explanation of my topic and create three main
points that referred to my topic. I referred to this as my outline guide to always refer to when I
felt like I was going off track from the subject or when I had writers block. After Professor
Durans feedback on my first draft assignment, I had a better idea of what I needed to work on. I
focused on adding more details, including quotes from the books that related to my topic essay. I
utilized the handout Integrating Quotations into Sentences Its all about the punctuation! which
helped me include quotes as an explanatory phrase and incorporating them into my own

sentences. It was also helpful when I did the literacy narrative questionnaire assignment. I was
able to address the things I needed improvements on and focus on practicing them with every
additional assignment given. As I was re-doing my draft, I noticed it went a lot smoother than the
first few times I started this essay. I focused on what holes to fill, but made sure to have
supportive evidence and examples that related to my thesis. Towards the end of the semester, I
took advantage of using the AXES Method of Paragraph Development handout to improve my
writing skills. I utilized this resource with other essays and compared the similarities to the
outline guide I created. It became easier to redo my drafts because I had consistent practice on
my previous drafts and remembered to not make the same errors as I did before. It was still
challenging to bring my essay to life with adding more details, but overall I didnt struggle with
the things I feared most going into the assignment. I utilized what I learned with this assignment
towards other essay assignments but also learned how to work with other classmates in group
projects.
One of the group assignments required each team member to do a section of the research
project. This was the most challenging for me because our personal deadlines consistently
changed because everyones availability was different. After many trial and errors with my
group, we were able to come up with other options on completing the assignment successfully.
We communicated well with how we would make up for deadlines since our schedules were
hectic and each member was able to do their part of the assignment. A big part of us coming
together was through communication. We had discussions after class and followed up through
text messages as every section was completed. By the end of the research project, we all
reflected on how we motivated each other throughout the process and came up with nicknames
that referenced our different personalities of our group. This was our way of bonding and using

each others motivation to complete the assignment. I especially enjoyed what I learned on my
own with part one of the research project as well. Since part one was an individual grade and I
already knew who was in my group, we all came together and helped each other with doing
MLA formats for our resources. I took advantage of using How to Prepare an Annotated
Bibliography: The Annotated Bibliography as a resource to guide me in creating my MLA
formats. Once I was able to figure out how to do them with my resources, I shared it with my
group to help them with theirs. I also enjoyed the writing process with the public and private
summaries for each of my resources because it gave me a chance to practice transitioning from
my personal opinion to the facts of each resource. The best part of working with my group is we
continued to help each other with other assignments towards the end of the semester and we were
able to use each other as a helpful tool with material we struggled with.
As this course comes to an end, I am shocked at how much I have learned. I realize now
that I possess the capabilities to apply myself to succeed at this level. I have learned how to
create learning systems that worked best for my writing skills, which is something Ive never
considered doing in the past. I will continue to use the tools I created as well as the ones that I
learned throughout the semester to better my writing skills. Before the semester started, I would
write my thoughts and re-arrange them in a sequence form, calling it an essay. Now, I actually
plan out what I will write about before starting the assignment. I spend more time developing
my paragraphs and end with a strong essay. This course has taught me to make my writings
more organized, such as adding MLA formats and utilizing my resources. I noticed I have
become more confident with my writing instead of being fearful and I am looking forward to
moving up to the next level for English 1A.