Reflection

Starting out my senior year taking college classes excited me but it was still nerve-wracking because I knew that these grades would be the start of my college transcript. My goals for this semester were to achieve an 85 or higher on every exam and to possibly get an “A” in the class. Those were unrealistic goals now that I look back because to attain high grades, I would have work for it. My goals should have been to commit most of time to studying and reviewing the lessons and concepts that I learned instead of complaining my way through the semester. In the end, I did not accomplish my goal because I abused my freedom to an extent that should have been restrained. It was only towards the end of the college classes that I buckled down and focused and got the grades I wanted. Unfortunately, I should have done that from the start.
Like many others, I struggle with time management and I procrastinate a lot. Recently, I’ve tried to eliminate some of the distractions at my house except for face book and I still had a difficult time focusing. Weeks ago I realized that it was my entire house that was a distraction because I was too comfortable in my room that anything and everything would be a distraction. I then began staying late at hunter college, studying and getting most of my work done and so far, it has worked so I have finally found my solution.
This past semester, I took college algebra 101 and geography and at different points, I struggled with both classes. I underestimated college algebra because I imagined it being somewhat similar to the high school algebra and I was completely wrong. In some aspects it was close but overall, it was a challenge. In the end, I may have received a “b” in that class. Geography class is headache in a bottle by itself. I found it extremely difficult to wrap my head around the information and the teacher was no help and that was when I realized I had to help myself. Eventually I gave up; I couldn’t understand it and I joined the class and their complaints.
In one year, I see myself attending a four year SUNY college beginning my nursing career. In five years, I see myself working at the ER in a hospital while continuing my education to become a doctor. In ten years, I see myself working as a cardiologist, travelling all over the world, helping third world countries. To achieve these goals, I need to be focused; I will have to find an efficient way to balance school, work, and free time. I will need to find other options than giving up because when I become a doctor, I can’t give up on my patients because it gets too hard. I will have to find a way to persevere and reach my goals.
I am unsure as to who I am as a writer because I feel that my writing is never understood the way I meant it to because I have a hard time putting my thoughts onto paper. I think it is important to be a successful writer because it gives you another way to express your ideas and thoughts; it gives off a good impression and helps you get better jobs. If I were to write a book, my skills of engaging the reader would be beneficial to me at that moment because I know people would want to read the book.
In fiction writing, I learned that you have to be a good liar which means that you have to be extremely convincing to make the reader believe what you have written. You also need to make the story relatable to the reader to have them interact with the book in certain ways. One of the most important things I learned in fiction writing is that it is necessary and acceptable to write shitty first drafts.
I can’t remember the actual name of the piece, but I know it was after reading chapter two. I wrote a short story using excessive descriptions and I loved writing that the most. It gave me a chance to combine words together into a form of prose rhythm and think outside of the box.
Some concepts that come easy to me are significant details and descriptive writing. Usually that’s where my writing flourishes because I love using adjectives to tell a story and it just comes natural for me. However, I have a hard time with subtext and putting my exact thoughts into words because it always comes out different on paper. I feel that I need to write more drafts and always carry my journal with me so that just in case a thought attacks my brain, I can write it down right away.
By the end of this year, the skills and lessons that were taught to be good fiction writing will benefit me every day through my college classes and applying to jobs. It also encourages me write about a real life event, and tweak almost every detail to transform it into good fiction. Also, through this pre-college program, I have had the advantage of knowing the effect of time management and studying at the last minute. I know that it will be necessary to study two weeks before my final so that I won’t need to stay up all night doing last minute studying.
This portfolio represents my creative abilities as a student, to transform lessons and concepts into actual work. As a person, this portfolio represents me to the fullest. All my writing reflects some personal aspect of me in them. I believe that all the writing on this portfolio is honest; it contains all aspects of my personality and the way I think through each work and it will continue.