Dear Ms. Andrews ,

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       I came into this class a boy, and I feel I’m going out as a man…Ok, maybe I won’t go that far, but I’ve still learned a lot either way.  I came into the semester feeling like I knew a great deal about writing.  I’m going out realizing that there’s still plenty left to learn, regardless of how much my ego thinks it knows.

      Writing has always been the most fun for me when I can get creative with it.  I mention that many times throughout the portfolio, and I’ve tried to demonstrate that as best as I can in my work.  Each of the three major assignments we had to do for this class tested my ability to be creative. Of course, the “This I Believe” essay encouraged creativity, but it put a fence around it, by forcing me to find a way to spit it out in 500 words or less (Of course I stopped right at 500). 

     The literary analysis and the research project, I thought would be much scarier. My original belief about these assignments worried that they wouldn't just put a fence around my creativity; they'd strangle it, shoot it, put in a garbage bag, and drop it off behind the shed to die.  I can honestly say this class did significantly change my views there.  Most of my growth as a writer came largely because I was able to learn ways to implement personality and creativity into genres I’d always passed off as “dry” and boring.  The argument I used for the analysis was just strange enough to be mine (I consider myself strange), and the ability to use the digital essay format for the inquiry project seemed to make what could have been a dull paper, come to life.

     I can’t say that I really had any type of expectations for this class when I came in the first day. College writing seems to revolve around teaching us about using our own voices when we write, so I kind of had an idea this class would just be an extension of that concept.  It turned out that my idea was on point.  This class showed us how to use our own voice in different types of assignments that we didn’t necessarily work on in the 1101 class.  As a writer moving forward, I would say finding ways to take ownership of my writing was the most important lesson that I’ll take away from this course.

     At this point in time I really like where I am as a writer. I’m confident in my abilities, but I’ve become much more open-minded to learning about how to become better.  Although my overall writing process has stayed the same all year long, my abilities have only gotten stronger.  I’ve gotten a little more careful in the revision stage I suppose, paying closer attention to how things sound when they’re read together and things like that. Writing is an interest of mine, and I plan to pursue some type of work with it if I’m able to with my communications major.  Those big picture goals are what I work towards all the time, in this class, the last class, and even the next class.  I seem like a perfectionist because I am.  I’m trying to make it big in a growing world that isn’t afraid to call somebody out for being a phony.  I work hard because that’s my way out. Nothing along the road is going to impede my development. Everything is put in front of me to make me better.

      That perfectionism is the same gene that made peer reviewing such a task for me.  I understand that I put a lot more effort into my assignments than some of my peers who may not hold the same enthusiasm for their writing as they do for their favorite subject.  Showing up to “rough draft day” with a fully developed 2500 word inquiry while my classmates show up with their “rough drafts” always creates an awkward situation. Situations where my peers don’t want to criticize me because I write so much, and I don’t want to criticize them because I know either they don't care or they aren't done yet.  Those situations aren’t helpful at all, and they feel more condescending than anything.  That may have been the toughest part of the class for me (along with sitting there copying notes like a high-schooler).

     My portfolio aims to represent me, the person, as well as me, the writer.  I put my personality into my writing, so naturally that’s what I want to stand out.  There’s a reason for the minimalist theme and black background.  I wasn’t being lazy.  Pictures and captions are involved with the different pages to illustrate what I’m talking about, because that just adds to the writing in my eyes. I always want my readers to visualize what I’m talking about. I’m sure I’ve said that a hundred times now too (along with the words "sarcasm" and "personality") .

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      I feel that I should also go ahead and note that I was well aware of how to add an artsy background with a cute Colbie Caillat song playing on all the pages, but decided that wasn’t really my style (and hasn’t been since I was a 14 year old girl on Myspace).

      Overall, I had a good time with this class. The ability to share my crazy beliefs and comments is critical to me finding my comfort level in any environment.  The assignments and discussions from the past semester practically begged to hear those crazy thoughts, and I enjoyed that a lot. If my future writing classes continue to push those buttons, then I think I’ll keep continuing to grow.

                                 Sincerely,