Before taking English 102, I knew a lot about english.

My english courses in high school

were very rigorous as I was in the International Baccalaureate program and was required to test
higher level for english. Most of my classes in high school were relating various literature to
each other and comparing and contrasting as well as analyzing poems and doing argumentative
essays. After summer, much of that knowledge went out the door and I was almost back at my
sophomore writing level. I have become better, however, I still have things I need to work on
such as supporting myself with evidence and using it to relate to what I am talking about. English
102 has helped me regain that knowledge and has helped me become a better writer.
In this class, we did an explanatory essay, a position essay, and a solution essay. All of
these are essential to being successful in college. I am glad I had the opportunity to write a
solution paper now, rather than try to figure it out later on in my college career, as I have never
done a solution paper before. My major is a science major, and with science majors, come with
many analytical, research, and possibly solution papers. This course has helped- but really
forced- me to become a stronger writer and find way to get to the word count without adding
“fluff”.
This semester I found many things frustrating because I was essentially at square one
with my writing knowledge and felt like I was behind. Turning in a paper 6 minutes late cost my
grade to go from an A to a C and has not since returned to an A despite my efforts. I have tried as
hard as I can this entire semester and have been dealing with a depression. This was very
frustrating because there were many opportunities I had to work on my papers and I did not take
them because I could not physically do it. It has been a rough semester for me mentally and this
class has challenged me to stay on top of everything- which is positive. Not only that, but I was
taking 18 credits-7 classes- this semester and it has been overwhelming for me to stay on top of
everything.
If I had to the chance to take the class over and change something, I would change my
workload and work ethic. I admit I bit off more than I could handle and have not put in as much
effort as I would like to for my classes. In a perfect world, I would have not been depressed and
would have stayed on top of everything. I would have worked on my papers a little everyday
instead of all at once. Towards the end of the semester, I started to take notes when I was in the
conferences and I wish I would have started sooner because it boosted my grade since I was able
to remember and fix everything that was suggested and could cross off every bullet point as I
finished editing my paper.
The paper I would revise would be my explanatory paper because it was weak and I did
not know what I was doing. I think my writing could have been stronger. I did not try as hard as I
should have and was not ecstatic about my score. I think I strayed from my main points a lot and
if I could revise it, I would go over 1.000 words because I have so much to explain about the
topic. I felt that 1,000 words was not enough to leave someone with a full understanding of the
issue at hand. I would also have taken notes while in the conference because it was very helpful
to have all the main points that needed to be revised on a list for me.
 Now that I am changing my major to communications, it is more important than ever to
become a better writer. I do not know if any of my course required classes are writing classes,
but I would not be surprised if there was. My major is communication and I should be able to
effectively communicate with others and strive to become a strong writer like some of my peers.
Writing and english have never been horrible subjects, but I never thrived in them either. If I
take away one thing from this class, it would be the book resources that were required for the
class because they can in fact be useful to me in the future and a good source of reference.