Pham 1

Linh Pham
Connie Douglas
UWRT 1101
5 December 2014
Final Reflection
Over the course of four months of being in University Writing, I had learn to adapt to
college study style. I had a hard time in the beginning of the semester because I did not feel
comfortable writing. I disliked writing in the because I had bad grammar and that was my main
excuse. However, after my first paper, I feel more confident in terms of expressing my thoughts
as well as correcting my mistakes. I have utilized the Writing Resource Center for all of my
major paper. Prior to turning my paper in, I always revise my paper several times with help from
my peers. Aside from my lack of confidence in the beginning of the semester, I disliked reading
my own paper because I would think that I cannot judge my own paper because I was a bad
writer. Thankfully, I learned after my first paper that by avoiding revising my own paper, I put
myself in a spot situation. In order to improve my writing skill, I must be willing to step out of
my comfort zone and do my work.
At the beginning of the semester, my daybook is filled with short reflections rather than
in depth thoughts, as well as, completed work. After the midterm conference, I know that I have
to write more in my daybook, I have to add more contents and practice writing. The only for me
to become a better writer is to write anything about everything; by that I mean I practiced writing
my reflections longer. Instead of stopping after five sentences, I encouraged myself to write three
more. Ever since the seventh grade, I had always been uncomfortable in terms of expressing my
thoughts in writing even if it was writing in my personal journal. I felt awkward expressing my
thoughts, and I did not know how to choose my words. I am so glad that after this class, I feel
more comfortable when it comes to translating my thoughts into words. During the middle the
semester I agreed with myself that I deserve a B; however, judging from the amount of growth
that I have been doing, I think that I deserve an A. I listen took the feedbacks on how to improve
my daybook entry and I utilized them to the best of my ability.
Overall I enjoyed being in class with my classmates. I was a bit concerned when we had
to discuss certain sensitive issues, but I was glad that they shared their own opinions and ideas. I
think that my classmates helped me grow as a speaker because they are encouraging and kind. I
tried my best to participate in class. I always voice my thoughts and my opinions, and I always
listen when another classmate is sharing their opinion. My writing group was useful as well, and
I am happy that I got to work with them. Even though some of them did not want my help
because I would critique their work harshly. I think that I was doing my best to help them get a
better grade because the whole point of the peer review was to revise our work. I offered help to
the best of my ability and I took part in the group work. I worked on my Zine project with a
group, and I ensured that I communicate with my group members. I think that my overall
participation grade is an A because so far I have only missed one day of class. I always complete
reading assignments before class so I could be ready for class discussion.

Pham 2
I have never been proud of my writing before, but after this class I am pleased with
myself. The most difficult paper was the This I Believe proclamation because it was my first
college paper and I had no idea what my professors expectation was. After receiving my paper
back, I know that I have to fix my tense shifts and develop better contents. The Oral History
report is the paper I am most proud of because it is about my aunt, and she is my hero. I put in
about six hours of work planning and writing the paper. Half the questions were prepared before
the interview and the other half was my curiosity. The reason why I put more thoughts into this
particular paper was because I want my aunts story to be well told. From this paper, I learned to
further develop my thought process. I utilized my writing skill in another one of my classes. I
think that I have developed to be a better writer than I was about three months ago. One of my
favorite lessons in the class is visual literacy. Visual literacy is important because our modern
culture is heavily influenced by pop culture. The most interesting paper that I wrote this semester
is the ethnography because I learned how to conduct primary research. I learned about primary
research in high school but I never applied what I have learned. It was interesting to connect my
primary research to a secondary research in which I had to pick my own topic. This paper taught
me two things, one is to pay close attention when it comes to collecting research data. The
second lesson is to take time in terms of picking a topic because a topic might be interesting at
first but it could be difficult to conduct secondary research. I had a hard time connecting my
primary research and my secondary research idea; however, the most important aspect of this
paper is to conduct proper researching skills.
The overall grade that I think I deserve is an A. I combined my daybook grade and my
participation grade to an A. During midterm conference, I gave myself a B because I believed
that I have room for improvements. I think that I have improved a lot as a writer because I am
more comfortable in terms of writing. I took the courage to step out of my comfort zone and
develop as a decent writer. This is my first semester of college, and I am happy to say that I have
never feel so pleased with my writing. I know that I have to continue to work hard in order to
improve my writing skills. I have more appreciation for writing and literacy. My generation is
the dumbest generation because we are not willing to work hard for what we want, and most of
that come from laziness and fear of failure. However, I am striving to improve myself as a
college student.