Chyna Vazquez

December 15, 2020

ENG1121

Word count: 406

Dear future students,

My name is Chyna Vazquez and I’m a sophomore at City Tech. Here are some useful tips for this class. This class is asynchronous, which simply means that we don’t meet for zoom calls at a specific time. However, it requires as much time as any class. All our class assignments are posted on OpenLab so I recommend checking OpenLab and your school email daily. There are usually Micro-activities due twice a week so time management is crucial. Micro-activities are small assignments that help you brainstorm and write about your major assignments which prevents you from procrastinating. Throughout the semester, I took various classes so I decided to make a daily schedule which allowed me to complete assignments on time. Using your time wisely is important because many of us, like myself, have school and have to work which can be very stressful. Since my phone is always at my fingertips, I would write the due dates on the notes application and set an alarm of the due dates.

The readings for this class might be difficult at first but always remember to read it more than once to really understand what the author is trying to convey. For each major assignment, you will submit a draft and be able to do peer review. Peer reviews were very useful and helped me improve my writing. My favorite assignment was Unit 3. I really enjoyed how I was able to do research on such an emotional topic for me and then transfer it to a visual medium. There was no prompt, you created what you wanted based on the subject and your audience. 

The prompt for the major assignments are straightforward but brainstorming might be difficult. I personally had a hard time for the Unit 1 assignment so I reached out to Prof. Penner. Don’t be afraid to ask and attend her office hours. She has office hours three times a week! No professor does that so please take as much advantage. Even if you can’t attend her office hours, you can always email her and set a different time. Prof. Penner answers emails relatively fast and she’s a flexible professor. However, deadlines are always steady so don’t forget to submit your assignments. Overall, this class is easy to pass as long as you complete assignments and put in effort. It was a very helpful class and improved my writing skills. 

Sincerely,

Chyna Vazquez