Chavarria1

Marci Chavarria
Professor Batty
English 101
May 28, 2019
You Can Never Know Too Much About Writing
Writing has always been a struggle for me as long as I can remember. I was never

really able to come up with words or sentences that would make any sense. I always would panic

when my teachers would announce a paper coming up because I knew it would take me longer

than the others. Reading was another big struggle for me in elementary school. I can remember

being held back in first grade for not being able to read like the rest. I have always been so

embarrassed of being held back a grade for not being able to read at the level everyone else was

at. Till this day I am very embarrassed at reading out load in front of people. When it came to

critical thinking, I honestly can remember being good at that. So, despite that fact that I wasn’t

good at writing or reading at least when it came to critical thinking, I had that in the pot.

Analyzing my writing, reading, and critical thinking skills has taught me that there will never be

too much information because there is always room to grow. Writing, reading, and critical

thinking are everyday skills I need to improve in daily life activities in order to be successful.

Writing is a skill that every human being on the planet should never take for granted.

This semester when I entered my English 101 class, I was very excited to learn all the different

ways that my writing was going to improve. Even though I knew from the start it would be a

great challenge for me. I learned to always write down things as bullet points to easily help me

understand. This semester the dictionary was also one of my best friends because I was always

looking up words that I could use instead of our average vocabulary words. All the assignments

we had this semester helped me greatly in learning to become a better writer. I learned the
 Chavarria2

importance of a bubble map. A bubble map helped me narrow down my topic furthermore to

what it was I was trying to focus on. Especially into trying to come up with a good enough

thesis. The steps that come before actually writing a paper are very important and I learned that

this semester. I felt I learned a lot by taking my time and making sure that I had all the pieces

together before putting a paper together. I learned that when you rush a paper, the reader will

automatically know there was no effort put into building it.

Reading as always been a very big passion of mine as a child for the simple reason that

after being held back I wanted to prove to myself that I could read. So, I began to read all kinds

of books, but I especially loved series books. This semester I read a book called Still Water

Saints by Alex Espinoza. This book was such an amazing novel that I had to tell all my friends

about it. I really wanted to understand the novel and especially knowing how to do the

assignments corresponding to the book. I learned that its okay to mark up your book and

underline important details or quotes that will later help you with a possible book report or paper.

I also learned that reading out loud helps a lot as well. One of our assignments this semester was

to find 25 quotes and comment about each one. I learned that this helped me a lot in

remembering important details and facts that I needed for my analyzation of the character Juan,

in the book Still Water Saints.

Critical thinking is basically open minded, clear and backed up by evidence to support it.

Critical thinking can be easy when it’s a subject that you are very much interested in, but if its

not a subject you, like it can be quite difficult. Critical Thinking can really be a smooth process

at times in my experience when you are prepared. This semester we had a lot of critical thinking

to do for our papers. I have to say, going to the writing center help me a lot. They had so many

important handouts on anything possible related to writing a paper and using critical thinking as
 Chavarria3

well. Making sure that your thesis is clear is very important and this semester I learned that my

thesis for my papers were not clear at all. When gathering information, you must take the time to

actually read everything behind the subject. I also learned this semester that doing some free

writing helps get your brain working for the rest of the day. I liked how every morning we had

reflective writing to do or quizzes that help the brain get started. We basically have only one

brain and even though some people’s brains are smarter than others it doesn’t mean we can’t

learn new ways to help become smarter too. This semester I really liked how music would help

me write more when it came to our reflective writing in the mornings. That is something I had

always had trouble in doing. What I learned though, is there are certain types of music that

stimulate the brain. Something new I discovered in class and can continue to practice for future

reference.

In conclusion, writing, reading, and critical thinking are everyday skills I need to improve

in daily life activities in order to be successful. We will always need to write, read, and use

critical thinking in everyday life no matter what the situation is. What I learned in English 101 is

amazing and something I can pass down to my kids so they can be successful in school. The way

I will be successful is to continue to be open minded with each professors ways of teaching and

always remember that there is never too much information for us to learn.