Reflection Essay Final Draft

Arizona State University

Lazlo Montanaro
 Over the course of the semester I have learned many things, and I have gained many

memories. Even though this semester has been rough for everyone, including myself, I have tried

to maintain the highest hopes. Looking back at my goals for this semester I feel I didn’t

accomplish them all, and I can’t make any excuses about it. But for this class I feel that I did

accomplish what I wanted. When I first got to class I had my mind set on trying to expand my

writing style and experiment with new things. One thing that was significant to me this semester

in class was writing an annotated bibliography. Before this class I had never written an annotated

bibliography, it was totally new to me but I am thankful for that. I am thankful because it pushed

me to become better. I had to figure out how to do something I have never done before, and

without the help of a teacher in class. Something else that was significant was learning how to

structure APA essays. In high school I was always taught MLA format and nothing else. But

when I got to college everything was so different, and I’m glad that I was able to learn a little

early in my college career instead of having to try and figure it out on my own later. I think

reading the chapters in the textbooks helped me somewhat. In all honesty some information was

very useful while other information was already things I knew. Overall what I learned over the

semester has for sure helped me and my future.

I think I will use many skills in the future. To be honest my future isn’t clear yet, but one

thing I do know is that I have taken much useful information form this class. I have better

understood my own writing process and discovered what works best for me in terms of research

and brainstorming. I have learned how to better analyze research, before this class I had no clue

what CRAAPS was and now I can utilize it in future research. Professionally, having writing

skills can only benefit the person. With this class I have been able to effectively boost my writing

skills, and just increase my chances for future success. In future classes I can use CRAAPS when
analyzing websites for an assignment, or I can structure a KWL chart to better understand where

I am at in understanding a subject. The skills I have learned can apply directly to my future, even

though my future isn’t clear English is important for everything. You need to be able to

understand how to read, write, and critically think in order to be successful.

The transition from face-to-face classes to online class was difficult in my opinion. I

know that I had a hard time transitioning. I found myself with less free-time and most of my day

was spent grinding assignments. I learned that I could never do online school, I don’t have the

attention span to stare at the screen for hours. I can’t be inside all day typing on my computer, I

need to physically be in class. In some classes it was easier to get work done and get good

grades, while in some of my classes it became more difficult. It was harder for me because I

wasn’t able to raise my hand and get help with a question I’m stuck on. Assignments that would

normally be done in class were now done online, and I couldn’t just raise my hand and get help

from the teacher. Online school is a lot different than face-to-face class, and now I know never to

try online school. Losing that accessibility to the teacher definitely made things harder for me.

The transitions has shown me how unproductive I can be. I kid you not before online school

everything was alright for me. I’ve never been into math, I’m not a math person whatsoever, but

this semester I was on my grind. Then we go to online school and everything goes down south.

I think this situation has allowed me to think differently on my degree and education

goals. The quarantine has given me time to really look at how I want my future to be. How

cheesy it sounds the quarantine has made me rethink a couple decisions I have made, and I have

truly reconsidered what I want to do in the future.