Richardson 1 Nick Richardson English 1102 Professor Campbell April 29, 2013 Final Reflective Letter Dear Professor

Campbell, It has been a long and difficult semester, but weve made it to the end. During the time Ive spent in your class I have had to work very hard, harder than I have in most English classes, but I feel like all of this work has ended up benefiting me more than I may have thought while I was doing the assignments. In your English 1102 class we worked on many different assignments and activities. None of which were more memorable than writing a weekly blog. I have never had to write a blog before but I can now say I have, and while it may not be my favorite thing in the world, it did give me a chance to reflect on something in pop culture or in the news, and take a few moments from my busy day to think about these things. Next were the almost daily free writes. During these assignments we were given a topic, either a thinker, creative, analytical, reflective, or some mix of the 4, and speak our minds for around five minutes. This activity was a little annoying at first, but became a chance to put our thoughts on paper that eventually became very useful to our e-Portfolio. Also during the class we had different informal writing assignments. These were useful and seemed fitting for an English class, things like interest inventories and Dear Malcolm letters. Later on in the class we began writing papers and researching information and peer reviewing each others work. This process led to me researching information to

Richardson 2 write about, then writing the paper, annotated bibliography, etc., then I would receive helpful feedback and improve my piece of writing based on the comments I got from my peers. This process was very helpful and is a staple of any good English class. All of these assignments and activities aided me in my development as a student. They helped me become a better student, and a better thinker, by making me be diverse in how I accomplish the tasks you have assigned. Meaning that I couldnt simply write an essay for every assignment, I would instead have to write essays, blog, brainstorm, and ultimately think harder to get the good grade I wanted so much. Throughout the semester I have repeated to myself I am not fond of English class. This is because it is what I consider my weakest subject. Writing long essays has always been, and probably always will be a weakness of mine, while quick thinking may very well be a strength I have. This quick thinking helped me multiple times during the course, mostly with the Annotated Bibliography, which I did well on after staying up until three the morning before working on it. However overcoming these weaknesses, and using these strengths to my advantage, have led to me becoming a better student this year. I had trouble with the Annotated Bibliography and EIP. Based on the struggles, I have learned that cramming a large English assignment in the night before it is due is never going to get me an A, maybe a B, but I consider myself a good student and an A is what I chase after. I took that knowledge telling me to stop procrastinating and used it in the composition of this e-Portfolio. For one of the first times in my life I have not waited until the last minute to finish this assignment, and for the first time I havent had to stress out about whether or not I will get it done on time. This feels amazing and Im glad I learned that procrastination isnt the answer through my experiences in your class.

Richardson 3 My most important work in my English 1102 class was easily the Extended Inquiry Project (EIP). This, however, is a very broad field of work I completed over the course of the semester. To complete this massive assignment, I had to complete four main steps. First, the inquiry process. The inquiry process started with our Interest Inventory, which I uploaded to this e-Portfolio as my favorite informal writing assignment. This Interest Inventory had a list of different topics, and I had to list the things that came to my head when I thought of these topics. These topics included hobbies, habits, trends, and much more. This Interest Inventory led to my decision to make the broad field of exercise the topic I wanted to zero in on for my work during this semester of English. I legitimately enjoyed the Interest Inventory because I had the chance to be creative and let my mind wander, allowing me to have as many interests listed as possible. The next big step for my EIP was the Topic proposal, in which I picked a specific topic to research. I chose a topic dealing with how the Internet is the future of health and fitness. I then had a sit down conversation with you, and we decided this was a solid topic. This process was fairly simple and easily finished. I was surprised you were so happy with my topic, but that let me know I was on the right path to success on this assignment. Next on my quest to complete the semester long EIP, was the Annotated Bibliography. For the Annotated Bibliography I had to find four sources which either backed up what I was researching, or argued against it. This took a while, maybe because not too many people have wondered whether or not the Internet is the future of health and fitness, but regardless of this obstacle I found four good sources with which I could make a satisfactory Annotated Bibliography. I then had to describe, with large amounts of detail, what the source spoke of, AKA give a summary of the article, then mention the authors, and give their

Richardson 4 credentials, and finally I spoke about how each source would fit nicely in my final paper. This Annotated Bibliography was very stressful and something I honestly wasnt fond of. However this is probably my fault because I waited until the last night to finish it. Finally I had to write my paper, my Extended Inquiry Project exploratory essay. I am not fond of writing essays, and this paper was not an exception to how I feel about them. I had to write a seven to ten page paper about my topic, and in the end I wrote five and a half pages. Either I didnt do enough research, or I didnt expand enough on my points in the paper. This essay was one of the more tedious and stressful things I have had to do in my career as a student. By the time I finished I was so burnt out with writing I couldnt imagine writing anymore. However it felt amazing to know I had finished this project that we as a class spent the majority of the semester working on. As I walk away from my successes and failures in this class, I will surely take away a lot from the course. First and foremost that you are Malcolm Campbell, my freshmen English1102 professor (I am making sure to remember this because you always guarantee us we will forget you). Next I will walk away with the knowledge of how to complete a semester long assignment without having to cram in one night. I will take away what it felt like to write a weekly blog, and what its like to write in a daily think book. I will take away all of this and use it to become a successful person, and student in future classes. Finally I want to thank you Professor Campbell, for helping me whenever I needed it during the semester, for being a great English professor, and for not forgetting my name when I see you in the future (when I still remember your name).