You now have the means to put words to your own narrative and build your dreams. You are learning that no one will follow you in the singular, strategic pursuit of your goals unless you have a voice capable of leading them. You know that writing can help you to achieve the highest aspirations of your ambition. And you have seen the truth in your own work—your successes and failures as a communicator and what comes next for you to become the person you were meant to be.
The final lesson of the course is that **this is your real life**
Class is not a dress rehearsal. Your life doesn’t begin when you graduate. Your life is happening this very minute. If you haven’t started yet, you must begin moving your own agenda forward. You are either succeeding or you are failing. Now is your time, not tomorrow. RIGHT NOW. Right now you must begin cultivating the ideas that will drive your best future opportunities. Write things down. Go find bright people and connect with them through the mutuality of your shared vision. Find those with more expertise and ability than you and be of assistance to them as you learn. Find those with less experience and offer them opportunity and mentorship.
To do the most interesting work of your life, you have to create the very conditions that lead to your own success. You will need help. I look forward to hearing from each of you in the future about your successes and failures. No one owns your narrative but you. No one. Make it count and remember to share it.
Welcome to the next phase of your life.
Directions
What will you do with what you have learned and practiced in ENG 1101? Respond.
Grading
This assignment is worth 60 points, as if that could possibly measure the experience of your learning or what you will do with your knowledge.
P.S. This is the most important thing you have written in this course. Make. It. Count.
When I first started this class, I was scared of failing. I knew I was not a good writer and I would not do good in this class. I feared that I would not be able to keep up with the materials in this class. I thought the reading would be long and they wouldn’t be interesting. I was scared that this would be the class that I would struggle in. I was not confident in my reading and writing skills.
In a matter of a few months, I learned to be a better writer. I learned that brain storing and outlining are important to be a better writer and they help you. I learned to improve my writing and reading skills. I learned to understand the writing process more. I learned that freewriting can really help a writer to get their ideas down.
Time flies so fast that I didn’t even feel that about four months have passed, and I have completed my first semester and hopefully passing this semester. To think that it was just yesterday that I was afraid to beginning my first year in college because of several things my teachers told me that there would be tons of work that I would have to complete or how my professors won’t care about me or even that your professors can be mean.
At the beginning of this semester, I thought that I wouldn’t make it through because of the tons of homework that I received from other courses, and on top of that, I had a weekly English class assignment. I was never use to the amount of homework that I received this semester; I was use to the minimum amount of work. Besides, I was scared of failing English class, mainly because English has always been my weakness. Since I was tiny, or you can say ever since I started school since my first language was Spanish and never practice my English until I went to school, it still took me years to write it, read, interpret, but I have improved. I struggled to interpret and analyze the readings given to me to write about, which was hard. However, I did struggle to manage my time well. I still do, but I feel like I will have to work hard in changing that. Finally, I also have to work on my procrastination, which I often don’t do on purpose; it just gets so hard writing analysis or essays and doesn’t have any ideas you suddenly want to give up writing.
This English class was so different from a high school English class. This class taught me so many things and made me learn something new every day. For example, this English class wasn’t only to teach me how to write essays or other writing pieces, and my professor made sure to say that at the beginning of the semester. It was about reading different readings or articles that can benefit us and can be used in our daily lives or the future as professionals. Additionally, whether attending my professor’s class or listening to the course’s recording, I was engaged in the class because his teachings were based on the readings or videos. Sometimes, he would talk about life. Whenever I was writing about myself, I let out everything I had inside of me to the paper.
With all the information I have learned and practiced in this class, I will still be practicing it because I wouldn’t want to lose what I learned, which can be useful for the future and for other courses that I will be taking. Also, I will implement what I have learned every chance I have so I don’t forget what I have learned in such a valuable class. Although I am not that good at writing, this class has helped me get one step closer to achieving that.
Finally, This wasn’t how I expected my first semester in college, but it was a great experience that I had with my professor and my peers plus, there are things that I learned that will always be with me. Overall, I can say that this semester wasn’t so bad as I thought it would be; it could have been worse. We have to think positively, not negatively. Thank you, professor, for everything you have taught and the great experience I had in this college world.
There is still a lot to learn and clearly with the feedback I’ve gotten throughout the semester by the professor means a lot to me. It shows that I have a lot of room for improvement and I like how honest she was with all of us. I am very proud of the work I have written throughout this time, my high school assignments could never have reached the length of thought and words that I’ve incorporated in them.
In ENG 1101, I learned to be more independent. I learned to do assignments on my own without relying on specific examples, without being told exactly what to do. Doing this made me trust myself more, and not doubt myself as much. Whenever I would be given an example, if my writing or work did not match the sample specifically, then I would feel like I was not doing the right thing. I would feel like my work was wrong because it did not match the sample I had been given. Over time, and as I did more assignments, I kept learning to rely a little less on examples and a little more on myself. Of course, I always benefit from help or feedback but I no longer rely on it. I have been given a bit more freedom when it comes to that category and I enjoy being able to make my own decisions without self doubt when it comes to my writing. This has helped me learn a lot about myself in the things that I wrote, it made me remember a lot of things about myself that I had even forgotten or refused to acknowledge. This class helped me grow as a person, which has never actually happened before with any other course and that is why this course was a good impact on me.
Like I said, this class helped me grow as a person. It helped me see myself in a better light and truly see what I could do. My dream job is to be a chef, and I know that to do that, I need to be confident. I need to trust myself and my choices and stop self doubting. Of course not thinking I am perfect, but also not setting my standards low when I know I am capable of more. This class is what older college kids would probably describe as “college is a lot of work,” and while that may be true, I am glad it was the way it was. I was able to push myself and learn more and I know that in any professional environment that is important. Being able to always grow, not stay in one spot without doing much. As I get older, growing professionally is something very important and using the skills I have learned in this class, I feel like I can be successful.
Thanks to this class, talking about myself is a little easier, which is something I could have never done before. I would have also never imagined writing as much as I did in this class. As a student, I can say I have definitely grown. Of course, I can work towards doing better, and I will of course continue to do that.
In English class, I was taught many new skills to enhance my writing and communication. As I look back upon my past high school papers to now, I can say I am able to write more fluently. I had to face the challenge of time management throughout the semester and it was a very rocky road. This built lots of stress and anxiety. I began to lose hope for the class to the point where it was extremely overwhelming for me. It was my fear of being judged for my work and not having the perfect piece. This caused me to procrastinate, avoiding my essays because I needed them to be on point before turning them in. That was my worst mistake. Always turn something in, thats how you get credit. However, I didn’t let that stop me from pushing through to the end. Its not always about getting the perfect grade, its about learning and improving.
College writing (academic writing) isn’t like high school writing. It requires a complex thought and understanding. It is important because writing is a skill that is taught and learned. Academic writing is a more formal writing, it is professional. It is definitely a goal to meet professional standards and to have such tone. It is a process and doesn’t happen overnight, which means it must be practiced. That’s exactly what we did in this course this semester. We wrote different types of essays to form our paths to professionalism. This provided me with the ability to expand my knowledge on a topic in multiple ways.
English is not only about learning to write, it’s also about learning through reading. We enhance our vocabulary by reading and this is useful is in our daily life. The passages and chapters provided in this course actually taught me a lot of new things. After reading about critical thinking, I realized that it is something we do everyday without noticing. When you read, you gain the ability to comprehend and analyze different types of literature. When I think critically, I get to express my thoughts from a deeper perspective. Reading during this course played a significant role with the way I think, analytically.
I will use the advice, feedback, and writing strategies that I accumulated in ENG 1101 to better my future pieces of literature. I learned that nothing you do is perfect and that you’ll always need to revise it. It also doesn’t mean that your work is terrible, but it means that you’ll open a new eye to capture a different way of doing your work. Sometimes you get stuck and want to find a way to get your thoughts flowing, and I learned how to do in this class. I will use those skills and apply them when moving on to the next course. I believe that I have built some confidence to feel better and more free of my writing. This took a lot of stress off of my shoulders since I actually got the chance to speak about my troubles and also just answering the discussion questions. I realized that I have a voice and I can write. It’s all about putting your mind to and getting the job done! Overall, I found this class very beneficial to my education and future career in the hospitality field. I’m looking forward to using these skills to communicate in my other classes.
In the beginning of the semester this was one of the classes I feared failing, viewing the syllabus and realizing the amount of work that had to be done felt like a lot. I was so used to doing lower material work to the point where I thought my writing in this class wouldn’t have been good enough. Although it was hard within time I started to adapt to the long readings, hard essays and discussion questions. I’m glad to say that I learned many things from this class such as writing skills, time management skills, communication skills and most importantly I started gaining more and more confidence in my work as time went by. If I would have asked my past self if I would be able to write 1500+ word essay about myself I would have completely said no but thanks to the experience I’ve gained in this class that answer will continuously be a yes.
One thing I was thankful was for all the feedback I gained in my work, this being my first experience at college level writing I always looked forward to my grade and feedback. Thanks professor Corbett for your help, I was finally able to express myself through my writing and I was learning to improve it little by little. Although I was still nervous to ask for help I still tried my best to better my work after I read the feedback I received in order to better it. This class had a big amount of work for a freshman class but it allowed me to gain experience with college material and helped me build skills in order to improve my work. I may not be in the exact place where I wish to be when it comes to my school work but I know that this class has guided in the right direction and already changed my writing which will help me throughout my college experience.
This is one of the classes everyone warns you about in high school because of all the things you’re expected to do but I believe this class has impacted me in a positively way because I’ve improved my mindset and writing in ways that I wasn’t able to before. I will admit there were times where I felt like this class was too much for me but I’m glad to say that I fought on and it was worth the experience. My first semester of college may not have gone the way I wanted it to go because of everything going on in the world but I’m glad I got to experience this class with professor Corbett and my peers. This virtual experience has definitely been one to remember and I’ll forever carry the skills I learned in this class throughout the rest of my life. Overall thank you for giving me a great first experience in the college world, I hope to only go up from here.
In English class, I learned so many writing skills that has helped me throughly throughout the course. Comparing my writing from High School to now, there has been a major big difference. I learned how to express myself better, how to write about my feelings and thoughts without being judged, and how to organize my writing better. I also learned the importance of managing my time correctly. Managing my time has helped me accomplished more over the course. It has also helped me focus and reduce stress. Reducing stress is extremely important to me because it helps me complete assignments on time and not have panic attacks. I tend to become overwhelmed when there is a lot of assignments I need to complete. When I am overwhelmed, I start to take breaks and go on social media which then prevents me from doing my assignments. When writing the DBQ questions, essays, and paragraphs, I learned that my writing is not always perfect and there are areas where I can improve on but, I continuously work hard and hard and never give up. When it came to the readings, I would go back and read the reading multiple times so that I would have a good understanding of the text. When I had a good understanding of the text, it helped me answer questions correctly. I also learned that taking down notes and annotating is an important skill and it has made the reading more meaningful and helped me rememeber key ideas. When it came to the essays and paragraphs, receiving feedback and advice has also helped me do better in this class. It has helped me understand and see where I can improve on. Feedback will always be beneficial to me.
Weekly discussions and projects were not always easy and fun but, I always kept a positive mindset and tried very hard to do my best. I am extremely grateful for all the feedbacks and discussions we have had in this class. I am also extremely grateful for everyone being able to communicate with each other and help each other out. Although, I am not perfect in every skill, every day I am learning how to do better. Overall, this English class has been very helpful, useful, and amazing.
In English class I have learned to express myself better, freely. If I compare my first writing with the last one, you can see that I improved. I’m still working on it. At first the classes were not easy, but over time I learned to prioritize my time and organization. I have learned to improve my abilities and skills when I am writing drafts, DQs, projects, and assignments. Sometimes it’s frustrating because I feel like I can do better. The readings helped me a lot to write and take notes. Comments and suggestions on drafts and final projects direct me to a new opportunity to improve. The feedback I receive from my teacher is important and valuable to me, because I can know where I am failing and improving. I believe in the next English course; I will do it better.
I have learned to communicate better, to understand the writing process, to handle research information and to offer criticism or thoughts about it. I’m still learning how to do it correctly or properly. Weekly discussions, assignments, and projects have been an important source of information search. The English classes have helped me with the classes this semester, to write and be objective in my writing, in handling information and to do a better job.
I will follow the advice of Professor Patrick, on finding people with more skills and experience, to learn from their knowledge and guidance as well as Professor Corbett. Feedback and attendance could be seen when he asked us if we needed assistance or help on assignments and projects. Each teacher has shown empathy and assistance in the smooth transition to college. This year, I have had a unique and unusual semester but at the same time I have learned about organization, time, communication and writing. Professor Corbett’s advice has been important in my writing process, in the development of the analysis as in the summary of Gloria Anzaldua or project1.
Therefore, the English class have been valuable and important in this first semester. It wasn’t easy at first, but I have learned from your knowledge. These are difficult times in which he has shown sympathy and intelligence by giving us his recommendations for a better academic performance. This has certainly been the better English class that I had. In the next semester, I hope to have a teacher who is aware of their students just as Professor Corbett did this semester.
In class, I have learned the ability that we should first brainstorm and create outlines before I start writing a big paper or essay or any assignment overall. I have found freewriting to be a great writing skill to get all my ideas out on a paper then cultivating them into something great, it is my favourite now. Before I knew freewriting I was just looking at blank papers and second-guessing myself on ideas I want to write down but now I feel free to write. The readings you provided us to read are very inspirational and helpful, I have to read them again and share it with my friends and family. The different critical writing skills I learned in this course I will practice in the next English course. I hope the next teacher is like you, Mr Corbett.
After your feedback on what type of writer you think I am, I realized my pros and cons in my writing. Your feedback also gives me the ability to feel better about myself and realize that I really need to take advantage of many writing workshops to help me write better than usually am. I am indeed a determined writer because I love things to be done properly although sometimes it doesn’t look great, we learn from our mistakes. We can’t be better without making them. I would follow the advice from the recent reading about using friends to take part in many writing activities such as the use of email or text message to give feedback and the word game. The leadership you have made me feel comfortably accepted and that you really care about us mentally and emotionally. Your writing assignments gave me a great distraction away from my personal problems as a way to write my feelings out on paper and for me to realize what type of person am I. Instead of writing my feelings in a journal, I wrote my feelings away in Project 1 and the Self-inventory assignment.
The readings also play apart in the assignments because of their reliable skills that students should use while writing their assignments. My writing skills wouldn’t have developed if it wasn’t for the articles and taking notes. The most favourite, easy and most time-consuming assignment I ever received was the Self-Inventory paper. The paper made me realize the little things I didn’t know was so important to me. I shared the paper with my mom and I realized it’s the first time she ever reviewed work from me, she said we share a lot of the same feelings and outlook in life. She gave feedback that I should look over my work more and be careful with my grammar as well. I am her mini-me.
So far this is the best English class I ever had because I am more aware of what I have to do and work on. I also learned that no writing is perfect but it’s the learning process of writing that matters. This semester I came up with the conclusion that writing is based on your reaction to a particular prompt with a few guidelines to follow. I grow up in this class with more growing to do in the future and I thank you for that. I am starting a better life but it’s your class that gave me the push I needed to be at the point where I am now. I thank you, Mr Corbett and ill never be scared to write again.
I will use the advice, feedback, and writing strategies that I accumulated in ENG 1101 to better my future pieces of literature. I learned that nothing you do is perfect and that you’ll always need to revise it. It also doesn’t mean that your work is terrible, but it means that you’ll open a new eye to capture a different way of doing your work. Sometimes you get stuck and want to find a way to get your thoughts flowing, and I learned how to do in this class. I will use those skills and apply them when moving on to the next course. I believe that I have built some confidence to feel better and more free of my writing. This took a lot of stress off of my shoulders since I actually got the chance to speak about my troubles and also just answering the discussion questions. I realized that I have a voice and I can write. It’s all about putting your mind to and getting the job done!