As I enter the final days in my first semester in college, I can’t help but to think back on everything I learned and experienced in this time. ENC-2135 was the first classroom I ever entered here at Florida State University and soon I’ll be walking out of that classroom one final time. Reflecting back on the in-class assignments and the days when I just really did not feel like waking up for an 8 am but did anyways it’s kind of scary to see how fast it all happened. From grabbing my first notecard to turning in my first 3000-word essay I’ve had so much growth this semester both in class and in my personal life.
Starting with that pesky first project, one that a lot of students (including myself) struggled to grasp the concept of. As a class we studied the art of writing a personal narrative. My first draft was completely written like an essay, which was not what it should have been. After seeing and reading countless examples some of us still weren’t getting it. But I remember one day in class Mat was explaining the project and everything clicked. Even after the first conference draft though I seemed to still be writing semi like an essay but after the guidance from active in class decisions and Mat’s notes on my conference draft I feel it really helped me to formulate exactly what it needed to be. Although I still seemed to struggle even after my final draft my final rewrite came out very well after I got some much-needed notes from Mat explaining to stray away from the very highschoolesque essay model. I was then able to illustrate a very important moment in my life.
Moving into the second project I was very lost, and I didn’t really understand exactly what I was supposed to be doing. The further we moved into the project as well as after the library visit, I felt as if I actually knew what I was doing. After finally realizing what community I actually cared about, I was able to connect with a former nursing student who completely changed my opinion on the nursing program. Before her I was afraid to fail that I wasn’t good enough, but after speaking to her about her experience she made me confident in my abilities to get into the nursing program. She explained to me that if I really want to make something happen it will happen. Although this project seemed hard to begin with, I found it very beneficial. I found it beneficial because this project caused me to think critically and speak with the peers in my class. Many of us were confused about the same things but after one person figured out what to do it caused a chain reaction that gave us access to all pass.
We ended the course with project three. A project that encompassed everything from project two and more. We had to create three genres for our community and also relay the overall message we received from doing this project. I wouldn’t say I struggled with this project it was more that I wasn’t clear on what to do, that’s kind of why I waited till the last day for my project. I attended class the Tuesday before the last day and I was able to see just what Mat meant when he described the project in its entirety. I feel like I just needed to see the project implemented, I’m a very visual learner. The podcast also was a little shaky for me I had to end up writing a script because I couldn’t think off the top of my head, But I finished, and I finished correctly too.
Reflecting back over the whole semester I just want to thank you, Mat, personally for challenging me even when I thought this course was going to be an easy A. Which I believe I did receive an A, but it wasn’t for nothing. This course actually made me feel like I learned and that’s sometimes a new concept in classrooms for me. I’m glad this course was a requirement because I feel I actually benefitted from being in it.