Final Reflection: End of the Semester

As a writer, I’ve developed over the semester by taking up on reading novels, articles, poems, and anything else that I could find at my disposal. I’ve taken the time to do so because I’ve kept hearing that if you want to become a better writer, you have to be an active reader; there’s almost no other way around it. In addition, I’ve brushed up on some of the old basics such as grammar, punctuation, and parts of speech. Looking back at the papers I’ve written for class, I’d have to say that I’m proudest of the result of my research paper because besides it being the highest grade I’ve received for any paper this semester, it was the one I was able to connect with the most; I feel like the writing process came naturally to me because I was passionate about the topic. In addition, I personally think that I’ve improved in the way I use evidence and explain its significance in my writing. As proud as I was with my research paper, I found it to be the one I struggled with the most. For example, looking for evidence surrounding my topic on the lack of equal representation of women in the aviation field was difficult; not many people are talking about the issue, and to the world, it doesn’t seem worth discussing. I tried to look for statistics to emphasize how serious the issue is, but a lot of them were not credible. Aside from this, I still struggle with trying to summarize everything in the conclusion without sounding too repetitive. As a writer, I like to write about my own experiences and about topics I can relate with on a personal level. I’d also say that I’m the type of writer that likes to nail everything down on the first draft.

Reflecting on the ideas and issues we’ve talked about over the semester, I still think about how people struggle with identity. It started when we read Junot Diaz’s “Fiesta 1980”. Yunior, the main character, was conflicted with ideas on masculinity because of his father’s actions and how he portrayed himself to his family. I think that in our world today, a lot of people struggle with identity issues and I think that social media is to blame because people post photos of themselves to show to the world that they’re “happy” or “living life to its fullest”, but a lot of the time, it’s an act; a photo doesn’t always tell us everything. To me, the concept of identity and representation is how you choose to identify yourself in front of other people, either because it is accepted or expected of you. As for myself, I haven’t really given much thought about my own identity; I think that I’m still learning things about myself every day.

As I look back at my first semester at Baruch College, I’m proud of the hard work and effort I’ve put in all my classes, and I’m extremely grateful for the friends I’ve made so far. Like any other college experience, there were a couple of struggles along the way in order to meet the demands of college. Sometimes I’d stay after school until 8pm to get that last paper done, or to study for an exam or midterm. I even signed up for tutoring in calculus at the math center because at times it would get very difficult for me. Aside from math being one of the most difficult things for me this semester, I was also having difficulty with managing my time between school and the Air Force ROTC program that I joined in the beginning of the semester; personally, I thought the program was very demanding at times, and I was conflicted on whether I should continue or not, but as I progressed within the semester, I was able to take control in my time management between school and the program. Looking at the bright side, one of the most rewarding things from the semester was getting the chance to watch “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Broadway; it was an incredible experience and I think that it was well deserved after midterms week. One of the things that surprised me this semester was the amount of resources Baruch as to offer. One of the resources that I’ve gotten to use very often was the library’s study rooms, calculators, printers, and laptops that I’ve taken home to do most of my homework on. As for contributions, I feel like I contributed a lot in classroom discussions for almost all of my classes, but I think that I could really work on contributing to the school in general, specifically the SEEK program. For me, I was trying to adjust myself for my first semester in college, and I needed time to figure out what I want to do. For next semester I want to try to join one of the clubs at the school, but I’m still figuring out which one. As I’m nearing towards the end of this reflection, I am grateful for the experiences that I’ve had this first semester, and I will take it as a learning experience, and hope to do even better in the following semesters to come.