P1D1

Ahmad Afiquddin Ahmad

Negin H. Goodrich
ENGL 106
1/18/2015

My Writing Experience
Art comes in many forms; through music, painting, sculpture and writing. Writing is, I
would say, the most beautiful form of art as it does not solely rely on human senses, rather it
relies on ones ability to imagine and play out a scene from a writing in his or her mind, thus,
making it also the most powerful form of art. Writing throughout the years has served as a
medium to propagate information, to invoke romance, to spur imagination, immersing the reader
into a world of fiction and wonder. And, that is why I love writing. I would not say I am a good
writer but I have an immense passion for writing. The joy of writing and the fulfilling feeling of
having completed a literary piece is priceless.
I spent most of my childhood years living in a small apartment in Milan, Italy. Living in
this beautiful city, which is also famous as a world-renown fashion city has deeply affected my
development as a writer. As most Italians do not speak fluent English, and most of their local
schools preferred using Italian as their preferred medium of instruction, as was apparent with
their kindergartens, I was sent to a British school that goes by the name Sir James Henderson
School, in Milan. The school, being the only school that used English boasted a community of
different nationalities that ranged from the local Italians to Koreans and Sri Lankans. I had
learned most of the basics in English there, and this helped greatly develop an important aspect
of my writing: grammar. Daily conversations in English helped me a lot in developing a sense of
detecting errors in grammar when it comes to writing. The beautiful city of Milan has also helped
me a lot in my experience as a writer as I always try my hardest to make my writing as beautiful
as the streets of Milan and as enjoyable as an Italian gelato.
After an exciting five and a half years, my family and I moved back to our home country,
Malaysia, where I suffered a drawback in terms of my development as a writer. Having spent
most of my childhood fluently speaking and writing in English, moving back to Malaysia where
English is not as preferred as Malay, my writing adventures were put on a halt. Most of my
friends at elementary school were not as well-versed in English as I was at the time and slowly,
after having not communicated in English for a long time; I had trouble speaking fluently.
Although, my writing did not improve, it was certainly adequate for the level of writing expected
from Malaysian elementary students, and I passed my national exams with much ease.
After scoring pretty well in my national exams, I was offered a place in a good high
school where my writing endeavors took off once more after several uneventful years. The high
school that I attended had a more balanced mix of students from different races compared to my

elementary school where most of the students were strictly Malay-speaking Malays, and I found
myself speaking comfortably in English once more. My style of writing changed massively
during my three years at that school as I used a wider lexicon of vocabulary and a more matured
form of writing. The improvement, I believed was hugely evoked by a sense of rivalry with my
schoolmates as we struggled to top each other in tests. I started reading more books to develop
my skills and literary sense as a writer to beat one particular friend in English tests, and I could
proudly say the records point towards me as the winner. Having a rival really did motivate me a
lot in improving myself in writing.
Three years and a national exam later, I was offered a place in a prestigious boarding
school where most of the brightest minds in Malaysia were sent to study. Life in a boarding
school was tough as one required discipline and independence. Having proved myself worthy as
an English writer, I was chosen to be a member of the English Motivational Committee; tasks
include motivating other students to communicate more in English, and to help them improve on
their writing. Handed such a commitment, I strived to prove my worth as a member of the
committee. I felt that, being relied upon, I had a responsibility to make myself worthy in terms of
writing ability, in order to provide better help to others. Two years quickly passed by, and I aced
my national exams.
Having scored well in my third national exams, I was offered a scholarship to further my
studies in the United States. Before, leaving the country, all the scholars had to go through a one
and a half year foundation program to prepare them for undergraduate studies overseas. During
the first semester, we were required to take an English course that was supervised by a certain
professor who graduated from UCLA, Professor Lim Ho Peng. Under his guidance, my writing
took a more serious tone as we wrote more informational essays. His years of experience and his
effective teaching method influenced me and my experience as a writer. He has helped me see
the joy in writing and helped me further develop my maturity as a writer.
Looking back at the past 19 years of my life, I could say that the meaningful experiences
and memories created along the way has helped me in improving my maturity as a writer. While
still being a work in progress, I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed all of my writing adventures
thus far and hope that my development as a writer would continue.

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Comparison in terms of progress from childhood to now

Does not show clear opinion of how much I love writing
Inner feelings
Explain in a way that invokes the readers imagination
All body no soul
Hooking technique Title and first paragraph
Simulate the emotions and the environment felt through use of words