Hospitalier 1

Shelby Hospitalier

HSE 101

Laura Jessup

04 December 2019

A Self Reflection

For the past 10 weeks I’ve got to call myself a student of Southern Oregon University.

I’ve left my comfort zone to try new things and become a greater version of me. Who I am today

is not the same person I was 10 weeks ago. Southern Oregon University has already heavily

improved my academic skills and knowledge over this fall term. Being a raider has shaped both

my goals and myself socially. SOU has given me many unique opportunities I wouldn't have

found anywhere else and I look forward to the rest of the year.

I’ve been through a lot of experiences here, both familiar and unfamiliar. I have been

lucky enough to make a great group of friends and have a ton of fun while balancing academics.

Coming to college I was scared of having to make new friends for the first time and be social. I

thought that would be the biggest challenge and now I stand corrected. I’ve never been more

social in my life than right now and it’s a change I’m incredibly grateful for. My classes have

been extremely rewarding as I’ve met a lot of like minded people as me and learned things I’m

interested in for once. I couldn't be happier with how things have played out. My roomates,

major, classes, workload, and physical wellbeing are all treating me well. That was the initial

goal for college, to be content and know I’m here for the right reasons. Now my goals have

shifted more towards academics as I’ve established this positive foundation. I hope to be more

productive and manage my free time better next term. Although it will be difficult to not
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spontaneously go on road trips or stay out at night, I know I can redirect my focus to an

academics first mindset. With that, I hope to keep up the good grades, work ethic, and learn

something from each class.

I’ve never enjoyed writing but others around me have always said my work is well

written. Since a young age I’ve despised the thought of having to write or read anything.

Whether its a paper, instagram caption, or speech, I complain every second until its completed. I

don't understand most concepts in writing like punctuation or grammar but have appreciated

relearning them in USEM. In past papers I seem to write fragments over and over. For example,

in my rhetorical analysis essay I wrote fragments like; “The audience can visually see and hear

her. She presents in a passionate and confident voice”. This mistake could be easily avoided by

combining the sentences and stating; “The audience can visually see and hear hear as she

presents in a passionate voice”. Another flaw I’ve come across in my writing is the use of

apostrophes, semi colons, commas, and other punctuation. For instance, when making a plural

noun possessive I forget the general rule of adding an apostrophe. Revisiting these writing habits

and learning proper techniques has been incredibly beneficial and will show in my future work.

Being the shy kid in school for 15 years of my life has been a huge set back in having

good oral communication skills. I’ve always hated the idea of talking in front of people. In fact,

it's one of the only things i get anxious about. Coming to college I thought I could abandon my

title of being scared of talking. I thought I’d give it a shot with a clean state and just be confident

talking. But then my first oral presentation came around and I choked up. Anxiety rushed

through me and I stumbled through every word. After that I lost all confidence and have dreaded

every moment I must talk. Things that have helped me become more comfortable is having small
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group discussions, two minute stories, and always having my partner Sarah to work with me. I

know another oral presentation will come and hopefully with time I grow to enjoy them more.

Becoming confident in oral communication is going to be hard but once I get there, everything

else down the road will be incredibly easier.

All in all, despite college throwing some challenges my way it’s been a pretty good

journey so far. This fall term has been a success both inside and outside of school and I’m

incredibly grateful to be here. I look forward to growing as an individual, a writer, a presenter,

and a friend these next four years. Who knows how things might play out.