Naser Almutairi

English 113B
Professor Lawson
May 10, 2016
A Critical Reflection
I must admit that when I entered English 113B I was afraid that I would not be able to
meet the standards that were set by Professor Lawson. Before I took this class, I had not heard
much about the professor, but I knew that English 113B was harder than English 113A and I had
struggled in the first class. Therefore, I thought that, even though I would work hard to pass, I
might not and would have to take the class over. My pessimistic way of thinking affected my
first essay which I wrote on bilingual education. I did not know anything about the topic before I
started the paper, but I did know that it would be an interesting topic to explore since we live in
Los Angeles and there were so many students whose first language was not English. I was
excited about writing the paper until I sat down and was forced to write it. Once I received my
grade, I realized that I had been afraid for nothing. My work was good, and Professor Lawson
had said so. After this, my second and third essays went smoother, and so my portfolio is
evidence of how I have grown as a writer, and how I have put my fears aside and succeeded as a
writer.
I am proud of the work that I have done in this class since I know that what I turned in
did not come easy to me. During my second essay which I wrote about Griffith Observatory, I
had to do a field study before writing an argumentative essay about the Observatory. This type of
writing was new to me, but I took the challenge and ended up writing a paper that I was happy
about and which received a good grade as well. By the third essay, I knew that I could meet the
standards of English 113B, and I knew that I was a student who was ready for college at least

when it came to writing. Still, I know that there are areas that I need to improve such as my
grammar which does not always come out clear and sometimes confuses the reader. I also need
to improve my research skills since sometimes it takes me a long time to find what I am looking
for and, after I have found what I am looking for, it takes me even longer to search through it.
Fortunately, I have learned how to use the CSUN library and Google Scholar which have helped
me cut my time down when I am researching.
I will take what I have learned in English 113B and use it in my other courses. The skills
that I have developed are ones that are useful in any class that requires writing essays, and I
know that I am better at writing essays now than I was before. I am also better with my grammar
and I do not think as much in Arabic as I did before so I do not have to worry about making as
many second-language mistakes as I did when I started college. Overall, I am grateful for the
opportunity to learn so much this semester and know that what I have learned will not go to
waste in my next classes.