After three units of my favourite class, 1121, I learned an important detail about myself as a writer (and video editor). When I look back at 1101, I understand now that it was the beginning stages of how to genuinely be a writer. It was a seed planted within my repertoire to improve my English articulation that blossomed through 1121, and has allowed me to create ideas that I can articulate in interesting ways. This is a blessing and, sometimes a curse. The blessing is it gives is the ability to talk about any topic in an intriguing fashion. The curse is if I’m not cautious enough, I can get lost in my own thoughts.

Unit One:
Unit One was very interesting to me and possibly my favourite assignment due to its potential creativity that allowed me to express my creativity in large proportions. The assignment was to write about a word or phrase that is important to my discourse community. It was a chance to show off my wisdom and elaborate on how much my chosen word means to me. The word I chose was ‘osu’.

My highlights was my organization. From my strong introduction, then transitioning to what my word means, my experience with osu and the  pros and cons. As I worked on my essay, I used a tone that was of storytelling for my real life experience.  I poured a lot of emotion and wisdom into my work which all resulted in an A.

Unit One taught me that the tone of an essay is significant and powerful in creative writing. For example, I used a lot of creativity for my introduction yo set the essay off: “I left one world, but with a purpose of entering the other as a stronger version. I transitioned by walking through that gym door, stepping onto the mat, stood tall with my feet together, arms crossed and said the one word that would begin anew. It symbolizes the niche that rebirthed me, changing my existence forever: Osu!”  When I typed the introduction, it was with such emotional drive that empowered me to create a strong intro in the form of a powerful statement. The intro helped the essay to be as strong as it is from beginning, middle, and end.

Unit Two:
Unit Two was an eye opener for me because it was absolutely the most frustrating assignment due to the complicated topic I chose. In Unit Two, I was required to choose a problem that impacted my community.  I chose gun violence in metropolitan areas. When I look back at my frustration,  I realized that when you work on a complicated topic, you can be flooded with ideas and lose sight of implementing an important structure. For me, it was having a thesis of what you’re writing about.

I spent weeks doing research as well as proof reading. It was exhausting due to pulling a few all nighters so I felt some frustration. When I submitted it, I thought to myself, “There is no way this can be less than an A.  All this research cements a guaranteed A.”  My favourite professor Ms. Hall gave me a reality check that stood out to me.  I’ve noticed it is one of my downfalls: I’m prone to overthinking which I have noted affects me outside of college, and I am now aware that it leaks onto my writing. This embarrassing habit causes me to focus too much one one essay structure (in this case, detail) and neglect another (the thesis).

Unit Two taught me the importance of going with a certain flow relaxed flow of writing to be more accurate instead of trying to articulate an overthought bubble of ideas.

Unit Three:
Unit 3 was the Unit I was dreading the most. The assignment was to make a documentary of our how your life was affected last year of 2020. I chose to do mines in the form of a monologue podcast. My podcast would be about how 2020’s tumultuous nature broke me and how I rebounded.

Throughout the making of my podcast, I found it to be complicated and embarrassing.  It was a first time doing an assignment that required work of that style. There was also the complicated nature that is editing. Having to listen to your own voice repeatedly and trying to make sure it fits well into your video really brought out my insecurity.  Most people hate listening to their voice repeatedly. My project was no different. What also made it tough was the constantly re-editing my podcast to ensure it was at its best. The repeated steps of downloading videos and background music, cutting and splitting audio, cropping and exporting was energy draining.

In the end, it all worked out. This Unit reminded me that if you have a realistic and genuine motivation, you can get around any assignment. What motivated me was to use my editing skills to create an unorthodox display of who I am to my favourite professor. I wanted Ms. Hall to see more into my world of what I look like, who I am (or what I am) and what I like to do. It was my way of expressing gratitude towards her for restoring my passion to read and write with passion.

 

 

Conclusion
As my favourite course unfortunately ends, I am proud of the lessons I have learned.  Throughout this entire journey, I’m proud that I am more knowledgeable of the writer I am as well as more aware of my potential highlights and flaws.  In1101, I was gifted the passion to be a proper writer for the first time. Throughout 1121, I was gifted the the passion to practice, express and strengthen the gift I was given in 1101. I finally felt like a true writer. It made me believe I could write like a journalist. This is a feeling and experience I will carry with me throughout college and beyond. I will never forget my favourite class and the professor who made it all possible.