Self- Assessment

Ahhh… life in the fast lane.  I truly don’t realize how fast life goes till it is gone.  I think summer semester went by really fast and I had no time to really take it in.  Even my summer went by so fast I didn’t have time for holidays or vacations.  I must say even though it went by fast I still had a hard time with English.  It wasn’t the class or how many assignments, it was that I had to write in different ways (genres) and make my brain work.  Which I must say is really difficult when it comes to writing.  This paper is not difficult because there are no guidelines to follow and I can write what is in my mind and not have to make the wires up there connect to a different part of the brain.  I do know how hard I have tried to make my papers as close to the guidelines as I could without making myself very frustrated. 

            Revising papers I think is the most frustrating part of English.  I have it in my head that once I am finished with a paper, then I am finished.  What is the point of making my paper change?  To change that in my head and then finally go to the paper and change or add something took a long time.  I realize I am not the best writer in the world, which I am thankful, but I know I can learn something and realize that I am not the worst writer in the world either.  I think it happened with all of my papers I would sit there and stare at them for hours and nothing would come to my head of how to revise it to make it better.  I think I sat with numerous members of my family and friends who were better at English than me and it took a long time for anything they said to sink in.  I finally fixed all my papers though and going through that frustration really made my papers turn out better than the first time I wrote them.  So my papers really were not finished I just couldn’t see what I needed to fix.

            I thought about fixing my topics or writing on a new topic when I would get the feedback but I remember Mr. Christensen saying there is no point in writing a new paper when I could fix it just as easy. Yes, it was easier in the end to fix then finding a new topic and sources but when I doing the fixing I felt it was just the same as writing a new paper.  I chose topics of domestic violence and construction because I see them close to everyday.  My dad is a construction lawyer and everyday when I am on the road I see the orange barrels.  I hear about this topic constantly, it seems I can never get away from it or them.  Domestic Violence is also one I hear about often, working with victims of it and then hearing it from my sister who also works with victims of Domestic Violence I hear that topic more than I want to as well.  For the readers I thought the construction could be more upbeat and people could relate to it more than the Domestic Violence where it is serious and informational. 

            I picked these three papers because I thought they were the best out of the five I wrote.  The first two we wrote, profile and report, I didn’t like because I don’t think I got even close to what the guidelines were.  I felt they were not as good as the last three I wrote and that is how I picked the papers for the website.  The website is more of a reflection of who I am.  The colors and how I have set it up describes me.  I was not trying to make it into something I would never use again or something I would hate because it was related to the English papers I wrote.  I tried to make it more of what I would like to read and see than that of something I will hate in the future and just did to get a grade.  I hope to utilize this website for my future benefits.  Where future employers and family and friends can all visit.  I know it will take a lot of work but I am willing to try.

            Trying new things is always good just so I can say I have tried it once.  Continue doing it if I like and saying I’ve tried when I don’t like it.  Writing for me is my worst enemy.  I was not given the gift of writing as my brothers and sister have.  I have learned how to write.  It does not come easy but it is not as hard as it use to be.  By going to college and taking the writing and interpreting classes I have learned how to write better and that my papers are not A+ papers when I write them.  It takes a lot more than just writing them to make them good.  I am not saying I revise A+ papers either, I am saying I can do it where I thought I never could.  I am proud of myself as well as what I have written.  I know they will never make it to a magazine but there good for me and they can make it on my website.  I have tried and I can say I have tried and I didn’t fail.