Going into my first year of college at City Tech, I didn’t come in as the best writer. I knew I was going to write essays in my first semester, but when it came to how I was going to do, and how the essay was going to come out, the vision started to get blurry. When I got assigned my first essay in October, this was my first essay I had to write since junior year of high school. I didn’t think I was going to do well, but that was because I had to shake off the cobwebs and dust. When I finished the essay, I actually did better than I thought I would. I learned that I had more in my bag than I thought. It took expectations that were at the highest they have ever been, to show that I have more as a writer than I thought. The fact that I always had 3 essays to work on every day since the beginning of October, made me change how I work and how I manage my time. 

Looking back on who I was 4-5 months ago to now , I’ve seen how much I have changed not only as a writer, and a reader, but as a student and how I work. Going in, I was confident in my reading, but not in my writing. My low confidence in writing dates back to elementary school, when I thought that all of my teachers were writing these comments on my essay, or just finding something to talk about. I found myself spiraling to the point where I was about to give up, and just accept the fact that that’s  good the essay is going to get. In the 6th grade, I had a realization that these comments were meant to help me and boost my writing IQ. Since then, I know I am not the best writer, but I have been more confident, and I know how to use the comments and put them to my own benefit. After this semester, I am still gaining confidence in both writing and reading aspects, and I found more ways of getting out of the trap that haunted me 6-8 years ago. In simpler terms, I am happy with the progress I made.

I have learned a very ample amount about food safety throughout the semester, not just in this class, but also with Professor Goodlad. Food safety is one of the most important things in the world simply because more than 90% of the world’s population eats food in some form. When there is a foodborne illness outbreak, the affected are mainly the younger population, along with the older and immunocompromised populations. There is a trend that I have researched in one of my assignments, about how the population can see a soar in the older section. If this holds true, then the impacts of outbreaks can be even more  relentless. I can use this research and see how we all can prevent these outbreaks, and what practices we can do to improve safety around the kitchen. We can do around the clock cleaning, as well as practicing how to cook food safely and confidently.

In conclusion, I feel like I can really start to turn the ignition and excel in my work. I have never felt more confident in my academic career, and I have all of my professors to thank for it. They have been supportive and they never gave up on me, or gotten frustrated, and for the first time, I actually have professors that I know that care about their students, and they are not just there for the money.