Process Blog Post 1

I like writing in this class. I did not like to write in high school. It seemed to me that when you got into high school it was an unspoken rule that no student was ever to write about themselves, their experiences, or simply write creatively about a topic. We were always given articles, or books, or movies to analyze and then we had to write an analytical essay about them. I didn’t realize how much I hated that until I wrote my reflective essay, about breaking stereotypes. In my essay I included my thoughts, my feelings, and I analyzed my own experiences. It feels so freeing to be able to write about something that I am actually passionate about. So far in this class, I have really appreciated that difference between college writing and high school writing.

I know in the future that it might be different, as we get into more formal essays, but I find it much easier when I am able to connect my writing back to my own life. I remember saying to Professor Metsker, “I really felt good about writing this essay, but how do I write formal papers?” She told me that I would write papers in exactly the same way, just using someone else’s evidence. This was a big  “OH” moment for me. I think that this informal writing exercise was really good for me. For example I wrote in my essay, “I could not understand why she was chastising me…” (3). That is not something that I could have ever written in a high school essay. It’s too personal. I think that it’s great to be able to write a personal essay though. As a student it is a lot easier to connect to other student’s essays when they are personal, and I think that they are a lot more interesting. It was easy for me to write informally, my essay flows, and I actually had fun!

See that woman in the hat behind me? That’s my mom! Since she knows about how much I learned from joining exchange club, she was able to offer some really helpful advice! Thanks mom, for giving me beneficial insight on my papers! ❤