Name: Ashley Hernandez Date: December 8, 2020

Growth Over Time Reflection

The academic preparedness competency I chose was analysis. This allowed me to (definition of

academic preparedness choice-see page 5 of Portfolio Defense Student Workbook). The first

artifact included is an essay on whether college is worth it or not. I completed it my freshman

year on November 5, 2017. For this artifact, I had to research the pros and cons about whether

college is worth the time, money, and effort. The steps I took to complete this assignment were

researching the pros and cons, writing up a rough draft, then analyzing it to make sure I had all

my points down and complete the assignment by writing up my final draft. The second artifact I

included is my senior year essay on the pros and cons about fast food. I completed it November

17, 2020. For this artifact, I had to research both sides of fast food, analyze why it’s both good

and bad, and get my point across along with evidence. These two artifacts demonstrate growth

because it shows my overall improvement on my grammar as well as analyzing information and

learning how to write a proper essay throughout the years. Looking back I can clearly see the

growth demonstrated on my writing skills because when rereading my essay from freshman year

it clearly shows how my points weren’t clear to the reader to understand nor were my transitions

between paragraphs any good. As for my senior essay I’ve made an improvement grammatically

because I’ve learned to use stronger words to articulate my thoughts better to the reader to be

able to understand the point I’m trying to get across. In my freshman year essay compared to my

senior year essay I noticed there’s a difference in how much I wrote because I wasn’t aware of

how to get my point across, but I’ve definitely made an improvement from then to now.