Slepicoff 1

Mikayla Slepicoff
English 115H
Portfolio Reflection Final Draft
10 December 2016
Word Count: 791
An Amazing Start to a Great Journey
In high school I always saw myself as a mediocre writer. I was never the person who got
great grades on my essays because I would get Bs. Then, I would just move on to the next
assignment without really learning anything from it because I saw the assignments more as busy
work rather than as learning experiences. In this class I have really been able to expand my
writing knowledge which is something that I never thought that I could say. I have evolved my
writing because of the peer reviews and because of the openness about what we could write
about because before I could only write about specific things rather than things that I am
passionate about. From this class I have expanded my confidence in my writing to a point that I
never thought I would be at, and now I really do enjoy letting my thoughts out on paper in
contrast to my high school classes because I feel that I am free to say exactly what Im thinking
without any judgement.
Through all of the writing this term, I have also been able to get to know myself and how
I like to write. Ive learned that I am usually best under pressure which can be both a good and
bad quality. I have learned that by attaining another perspective on my writing does benefit me
more than I might believe. When it comes to writing, I really have to be passionate and know
about the subject well in order to be able to portray it to the audience. I never thought that one
class could give me so much knowledge about myself and how my brain works.

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Through this course I have also learned about my writing process. My writing process in
high school was usually just to do a draft do spell check and make that my final draft which I
now realize was part of my downfall when it came to my writing abilities. Now within this
course since I have been pulled into making an outline, rough draft, and then a final draft.
Through doing this I have really been able to pin point my thesis and main points making
everything in my essays clear rather than the gibberish that it used to be.
Thinking about how far this course has gotten me in my writing I believe that I need to
continue these improvements in the future. I believe that one of the next steps in my writing
could be improving my own self correction so that I can get more critiques from people in the
future. Another thing that I would still like to improve on are my run-on sentences and how to
cut them down so that I no longer have them as a problem since they have been a problem for me
since I started writing. I also would like to progressively learn how to write the way that I do
under pressure but without pressure so that I dont have to procrastinate as much. I would say the
biggest thing though that is next on my list to improve is to get better at writing about things that
I am not passionate about. I think that this semester went well partially because I was really
passionate about my topics and got to pick them. I would really like to work on my writing when
I might not be passionate about the subject for assignments and other things that I will be doing
in the future.
Through this course I have learned the most about my writing style as well as how to
write more than any other class that I have ever taken. Through my other courses I will take all
of this material and experiences that I have had so that I can continue on improving my writing. I
especially will bring my new knowledge of how to cite sources more than I have ever known
before. I also plan to bring my new knowledge about how to form a proper thesis and research

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question because I have never been asked to do that type of assignment before. Through this
class I now have the knowledge to be able to write about things that I see and I now can
incorporate that into my writing well as well as quotes better than I believe that I have ever done
before. This course has really been an eye opener to things that I never knew or learned and now
that I know all of this new information I now can help myself as well as others with future
assignments because of the confidence that this class has given me and I cannot say thank you
enough.