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Andy De Luna

Professor Briones

ENGL 123

09/21/2022

Importance of Commerce in La Frontera: Reflection

Working on this essay allowed me to notice more things about myself regarding my writing

and task-management skills. Since writing has been historically one of my weaknesses, it was

difficult to even start to work on the assignment. Unfortunately, I delayed things for too long and

had nothing on the day the essay was due. Although I was able to finish the essay on time, having

the pressure all week long for delaying work had me rethinking how I approach my school tasks.

Not only will this essay be worth a grade for the class, but it also will help me to change my bad

habits.

While doing research for my essay, I was able to get more knowledge that can be used

outside of my English class. On my essay, I mentioned the history of both cities to give historical

context for the readers. One thing that stood out to me was the creation of the first International

Bridge in Eagle Pass, which dates to 1890. Before doing my assignment, I would have never

guessed the relations between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras had been there for that long. On the

other hand, for this essay I had to learn proper MLA style and formatting. Sadly, MLA is only used

in English contrary to other subjects which use APA or Chicago style. Something important to

point out is how difficult it can be to get good sources at a local level. My first thesis had to be

thrown away because of lack of sources to back up my thesis. Having a hard time finding sources

helped me to develop different methods of looking for information, which will help me on future

writing assignments.
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Identifying my weaknesses and strengths was key to complete the essay on time. Regarding

writing, one of the things that I struggle with is getting my thoughts together at the introduction. I

tend to delay my work because I do not know how to start. In terms of strengths, I can work under

pressure, and, once I get started, I can finish an assignment quicker than I would think. Another

strength I have is my ability to receive feedback. Two of my classmates gave feedback on my

essay, and their ideas helped me polish my writing. My first classmate pointed out how the

footnotes were taking away the attention of the reader since I was not using proper MLA style, and

my second peer recommended me to delete the subtitles I used to separate paragraphs because it

was unnecessary. With all of this, I learned that if something seems difficult to start with, I tend to

procrastinate as much as I can. Also, I learned how working under pressure can make my thoughts

come easier than when I have more time.

The genre I chose to talk about in my essay is a master plan for the creation of the

International Bridge II. Although the document was very technical, I could find key information to

connect with my target community. The master plan presents blueprints and architectural concepts

which were difficult to introduce to my essay, but under the objectives of the project there were

key words that related to how the community interacts with each other. Choosing a master plan as

my genre was the hardest part of my essay which led me to ask for help on the tutoring center. The

least challenging aspect I would consider to be giving historical context of the relations of my

community.

In a nutshell, doing this essay helped me to understand more about my community and me

as a writer. Also, I found many of my weaknesses and strengths. Something important that

changed about my own perception is how I see myself as a writer; now, I consider myself to be a

decent writer as opposed to before when I saw writing as my weakest subject.

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