This semester was my first every semester as a college student and wasn’t sure what I should expect in my writing class. I was worried that since I was still fresh out of high school that my writing wouldn’t be able to live up to the standards college holds. Two flaws I had in my writing at the time that I knew that I had to work on if I wanted to achieve the college expectations was my grammar and my ability to detail an essay/writing in depth. I struggled usually at reaching long word requirements for essays which is something I also wanted to work on. Through out the semester I would try and improve from assignment to assignment and noticed slight improvements after each one. Now I feel like I can still work on my grammar but found it much easier to reach word requirements and go in deep depth while writing in my writing now.

The film analysis essay we did this semester was assignment I was most proud of and saw self-progress in my writing. During this assignment we were supposed to use the techniques of analysis and literary criticism that we learned in class to analyze any film of our choice. My essay was about the  Critical Disability Studies in 2022 film “The Batman” directed by Matt Reeves and went in deep analysis of how CDS theory was present and heavily impacted and played a major role in the film. While writing this I had to put a good amount of thought and reasoning behind the claim I made and to back it up. Although it felt tedious going through all those sources and videos to find good evidence I honestly enjoyed it due to my love for the film and the character. What I gained from writing this essay was that it helped me improve my writing by allowing me to type more then I usually can and apply sources to my evidence correctly and well. The improvement it had in my writing and also the fact that it was about something I have passion for is why it was my favorite work of writing and the one I am most proud of.

A writing piece that I personally found do be challenging was the first one about Literary narrative essay. The thing that made this essay so challenging is that it was personal and I had to write about myself. The essay was about code switching and my cultural/linguistic identity and the role it played in my life. I found it a struggle to get a sentence out at first while writing the essay. I found it challenging to write about myself so to make it a little easier for myself I recorded an audio of me speaking about the topic to give me a basis of what to write down. Step by step and with a lot of thinking I was able to complete the essay. It was about my identity culturally and linguistically in a melting pot city (New York) and the impact that had on me growing up and how I would code switch from time to time. I also struggled with how to structure the essay after writing it because it was a personal essay so the formatting is more based on how you tell your story in the writing. Although I found this essay challenging I still worked through the struggles and came out with a good grade.

So this semester has been something unique for me compared to how it used to be in high school. There was a lot more pressure on me and a expectation i felt had to be met. Although I had my challenges this semester I did enjoy it and learned a lot from it. It made me a better student and writer and even if its only slight improvement its a big step forward to a better path for me in the future. Although my grammar may still need work there was a big difference and improvement in me being able to write longer writing assignments and reach word requirements and in the way I detailed my essay in depth. These improvements may seem small but they will benefit me in the long run and help me get better. I found this class to be enjoyable and a great learning experience and even though it was an early class I would still enjoy being there and enjoyed the class as a whole this semester and I am thankful for the class and for the professor for helping me get through my first semester as a college student.