The1104Journey

TheexperienceIhadinUwrite1104wasdefinitelyoneIdonotregret.Ittaughtme
thingsIdidnotknowevenknowthatweresosimplesuchasgrammarrulesthathavebeen
lookedoverinmypreviouswritingcourses.Italsotaughtmehowtoperfectmywritingssothat
theycatchthereader'sattentionwhilemaintainingaflowwithtransitions.AlthoughIcamein
knowingthatyouneededtohavetheseabilitiesIwasnotawareofhowmuchIneededto
practicethesetechniques.ItwasnotuntilIreceivedmyfirstfewgradesthatIcametothis
realization.ThegradeswerenotdreadfulbuttheywerelowerthanIhadexpected.Ihadtodo
somethingIwasnotusedtowhichwasaskforhelp.
IhavenoproblemaskingforhelpbutIdotendtozoneoutwhenIgetsomeharsh
criticism.ItwastheharshcriticismthatpushedmetoprovetomyprofessorthatIamthegreat
writerIbelieveIam.IbeganstayingafterclassandusingthefreetimeIhadtospeakwithmy
professorandotherstudentswhohadpreviouslymadeanAinthatcourse.Iwouldstartwith
roughcopiesandgettheirconcernsastothingsIoverlookedandskippedoverandwould
includethose.IdidthisoftenwithmywritingpromptsandeveninmySemesterLongProject.
MypartnerandIhadaninitialideabutafterhavingafewpeerslookoverourworkwelearned
thatyoucannotassumethattheaudienceunderstandswhatitiswearetalkingabout.Wethen
tookthetimetoexplainanythingthattheaudiencemaybeunawareof.Rhetoricalchoicescame
intoplayaswellwhenIhadassignments.Theyhelpedmetounderstandhowtoapproachmy
audience.UnfortunatelyIstilldonotunderstandrhetoricaldevicesasmuchasIwouldliketo
duetothefactwecompletedasemesterinsixweeks.Idoplanondoingmyownresearchto
helpmegrowasawriter.

EventhoughIamlookingtowardmoregrowth,growthhasbeenmadeinthissummer
semester.Ibeganusingthatharshcriticismtomybenefitandtheoutcomesweregreat.Thebest
exampleoflearningfromcritiqueswouldbewritingpromptseven.Thispromptwastogive
insightastowhatmyplanswereformysemesterlongproject.Itookineverythingmyprofessor
andmentortoldmeandkepttheminmindwhilewriting.Imadesurethatwhoeverreadmy
paperunderstoodwherehowIfeltaboutthetopicofdiscriminationofthesexesbyincorporating
mypassionalongwithaclearvoice.Igotextraordinaryfeedbackafterturninginthis
assignmentitwastheturningpointofmyjourney.
ThejourneydoesnotjustendwithUwrite1104.Icanapplytheideaoftakingin
criticismtoalmostanyscenarioIencounterinlife.Thisshouldhelpmegrownotonlyasa
writerbutasaperson.