Reflective letter

Reflective letter

Writing has been a new turn of unseen variations; coming into PSEC was exciting and full of unexpected things. I have always loved writing and hopefully always will, but these three months have unmasked a lot of challenges for me. I say challenges because more than anything else I tend to focus more on my weaknesses rather than my strengths, but this seemed to help wake me up to be not only a better writer but to be a aware of what I needed to change and what to grow in. Writing 101 has been almost like the after affect of sand paper, it’s rough and irritating but then it shows a smooth and polished surface. I am grateful for the struggles I have gone through so far, to gain a better understanding for writing principals and rules. One of the first essays I wrote for PSEC unofficially for writing 101 was my application essay. This essay was one of my more successful essays and I feel like ever since I joined PSEC I lost a lot of my confidence in the way I write, but I believe that over time I have gained confidence that is similar to the raw unaware confidence I began with in my application essay.


When attempting to gain acceptance into PSEC we were required to write an application essay, proving that we were supposed to be here. Writing this was difficult but simple because I knew my topic very well. I wrote massive of amounts of re-writes for this essay, I was motivated enough to want to be accepted into PSEC and I worked while anticipating getting into PSEC. I believe that it helped me write to the best of my ability, and going into PSEC I now realize that I needed to put that much motivation and energy into my other essays. I learned that the application essay was my platform for great essays in the making. “I know that to do something great you have to start somewhere that can lead to that greatness. I believe that PSEC can be that place, and know that I can contribute what I have learned to this program. I have learned so much about leadership, the needs of people, and what it takes to make a difference. I can contribute my dedication, my drive to see things through, and my belief that people should never take opportunities for granted”. I pulled this out of the essay I wrote, I wanted to point out that I still mean every word I said and this essay shows that I do mean to bring my dedication even if it means making mistakes along the way. I also learned that what could have made this essay much stronger was if I added a personal experience. So I have revised it and added an experience that goes along with my topic and theme.


The second essay I chose was one of the last ones I did in writing 101. I feel fairly strong that this particular essay shows my growing strengths and my confidence that I gained by acquiring understanding from writing 101. I felt reasonably comfortable writing my Massachusetts patriot essay and I know that it was one of the better writing essays I have done. Although I did not get an outstanding grade in the essay I did get a better grade than my pervious essay on Bacon’s rebellion. I feel like I definitely learned from that essay experience. When I wrote the essay I was at a total ease and it flowed all together the way a good essay should. I was able to narrow down my weakness in this essay and that helped me with my confidence in being a better writer. In the essay Massachusetts patriot, I wrote “You had to suffer through the business falling apart and how it affected father, I admire your strength for keeping this family together when father went through his breakdown, but now things are different- it’s time to break away from Britain. We can no longer tolerate their abusive power." This sentence was one of my more weak ones because Craig mentioned the historic relevance did not match up with what the essay’s topic. I also see that quite few of my other sentences are underdeveloped and these certain weakness really help me grow to be a better writer for future writing assignments.


All of these writings show different weakness and strengths, but the two main themes between all of them are first my weaknesses which are my punctuation/grammar and sentence flow. The second my strengths would be my ability to show my critical thinking and have a voice throughout my paper. Both of these still needs developed but my weaknesses more than my strengths need the most work. Being in writing 101 I have seen enough in myself to really push what I have and what I want in being a writer. I believe this portfolio will show my work ethic and new understanding that I have acquired for future learning experiences. I will constantly strive to better myself as a writer and hopefully I will be able to pass along what I learn. I believe someday I could potentially become a great writer. With all that I have learned I really feel like I have grown in knowledge and my ability to write. Anyone is capable of writing great if they have the perseverance and patience to learn from their mistakes and evolve with a better understanding. I feel like writing 101 has been exactly the experience I have needed to really grasp what being a writer looks like.