Entering city college, I can say I did not have a college level writing placement so finding my true self in my writing was an obstacle I learned to overcome. In high school, we were never asked to mention “I” in fact if you did it wasn’t considered a strong writing piece it was weak. You’re just given an assignment followed by guidelines and you begin writing. Like a robot typing up words to fill up the word count that was given. and for that reason, writing in college took me on a new adventure to figure myself out through my thoughts.

At the start of this semester a strength I acknowledged in myself was wanting to learn more, I knew my writing was weak and I knew it needed a lot of improvement but being open to wanting to learn new ways in benefiting my writing was definitely part of my growth in writing. This class helped me expand my horizons in my writing. We wrote pieces that involved reality and real-life situations, which was an important step in taking to finding my voice. The feedback that was received in the class was super helpful and gave me the nudge I needed to end the year and enter my second year of college. I can proudly say if it was not for this course, I would not have gained the confidence I was lacking as a blossoming writer to strive for more.

I liked the format of the course material that was asked of us as students. In the start of the semester we were given readings to analyze and report on a blackboard post and each time we were asked questions about our feedback on the reading which great practice for was being passive as well as the professor’s feedback and comments to help use the passive voice. We did a lot of blackboard posts as well as in-class excerpts to sway the reader and grab their attention without adding unnecessary content. A weakness I had before the start of this semester that hadn’t been brought to my attention until this course was that I tended to add too many details that sidetracked the reader. With the blackboard posts as well as the in-class examples that were shown to us it was clear to me that I had to figure out another technique. Everything before the final field study project was a buildup of practice to prepare us for the interviews and observation.

My favorite part of this course was the interview part of the final project. We were asked to place ourselves as either an outsider or an insider to conduct our research in order to answer our target we set up for ourselves. I’ve learned much more than I had expected to. The interview part was emotional but gave me more hope to publish the person’s story to receive more attention toward my subgroup. It was truly a goal of mine to share the stories of Algerian immigrants living here in New York assignment, but this assignment truly did give me more courage to do so knowing the truth behind the harsh time’s immigrants faces in America. The final project allowed us to come out of our shell and place ourselves as an unknown person.

I am very grateful to have taken this course this semester because it truly did give me the nudge I needed to expand my horizons and come out of my comfort zone. Not only did I learn new writing techniques and methods I learned a lot about life. Most classes don’t teach you both. I can now say with confidence my writing has greatly improved but of course, there is always room for improvements. One thing I know for sure is after this course my idea of writing has changed in a positive manner.