Shannon Molander

RA Brown
Reflection: A Humanizing Experience
December 10, 2015
Hello, my name is Shannon Molander. I am by no means the best writer, but I have
learned a lot in just one semester. Human experiences are crucial for every person. Experiences
help you mature and learn to cope with new and more challenging situations. Human experiences
are unique for everyone. Of course, everyone learns similar lessons, but each conclusion is
reached from a separate and unique experience. I believe the human experience is how you
reached your life lessons. By the age of 20 most people have learned similar lessons about heart
break, coping with failure, talking with food in your mouth, and so many more, but the human
experience is how one gets to those lessons. Therefore, everyones human experience is unique
and important in his/her own way. Ultimately, this semester I have had many experiences that
have taught me lessons that I will use for the rest of my life.
In UWRT-1103 I have learned many things as both a student and a person. The most
important thing I will take away from this class is perspective. Many of the assignments given,
like bitch session, practicum blog, reflections, and other group work, have forced me to look at
every topic in a different light. There is more to every situation then there originally seems. This
experience has changed me as a person. It made me see that my problems are minuscule
compared to others, and instead of complaining I need to handle my problems. Others in the
class have probably taken away different lessons from the course, and that is expected. Every
person in the class took away his/her own lesson from his/her experiences. As a student I learned

of different ways of comprehending information. For example, in The Arrival there are no
words, for the entire book only has pictures. Although being skeptical at first I found I really
enjoyed the whole process of reading and interpreting The Arrival. I found I could critically
read the book even though it contained no actual words.
As I complete my e-portfolio and my first semester comes to an end I am relieved and
appreciative. During all my courses this semester I have learned many things that I will continue
to use throughout my life. College work is overwhelming at times. At one point in the semester I
had so many assignments to do that I stayed in bed all day avoiding them. The next day I learned
how to do many assignments at one time. Lastly, I learned that both procrastinating and doing
everything at once is a horrible idea. Being under so much pressure eventually taught me how to
perceiver. At first, I didnt know the purpose of critical responses, but I now understand that the
reflections are meant to solidify the importance of the work done in class that the reflection
process has made all the work done in UWRT-1103 more meaningful. When writing my
reflections I was forced to state my opinion about the assignment, meaning whether I liked the
work or not. Surprisingly my answer was yes the majority of the time, and I didnt expect that.
To whomever takes information from this reflection I hope you take into consideration
that every situation has countless points of view and its important to look at more than one.
Even though UWRT 1103 has ended there is no doubt in my mind that I will continue to write.
Many of my future courses will assign me writing assignments and I am confident and hopeful
that I have the ability to write clearly and effectively in that future. Clearly, the human
experience will only end when I end. I hope to continue to learn more life lessons every day.
These lessons will hopefully add to my maturity so I can be a benefiting member of society.