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Jocelynn Cuevas

Professor Novak

English 101

Dear High School Freshman,

During your time in high school you will encounter many challenges. You may not

overcome every challenge, but it’s necessary to acquire skills that will help you improve. I

encourage you to remember any tricks you accumulate throughout the four years because at

random times they can be useful. In high school, each of your teachers teach you differently and

in return you garner different learning strategies. Take into consideration that not everyone learns

the same way and we all have contrasting ways of doing things. With all of this, I advise you to

find out what method works best for you. You developing skills to aid in your learning process is

extremely helpful when it comes to your assignments. You’ll find that they’ll be easier and faster

to do.

An area I struggled in all four years of high school was critical reading. Literacy has

many components to it that I found very challenging but reading comprehension was my biggest

struggle. Due to my struggles, English was my least favorite subject and was an area I needed to

improve in because it’s one of the most, if not the most, important subjects to learn. The problem

I encountered was reading an assigned text for class and not comprehending it properly

therefore, forgetting what I had just read. After reading a text for twenty minutes I realized I

didn’t know what the text was about. It became clear to me that I didn’t know how to analyze the

text rhetorically which was why I would find myself rereading paragraphs 3-4 times. Not
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understanding the text led to an even bigger hardship, writing. Reading and writing come hand in

hand which is no surprise that I struggled in both. This was a major problem for me because it

resulted in my lowest grade in school. When a text was assigned for our class a socratic seminar

or a discussion followed. When I didn’t participate, or when I only spoke once, I will receive

very few points. It’s not like I didn’t want to talk I just didn’t know what to say. My grade in

English constantly brought me worry and stress because it was my lowest grade. I know many

people have the same problem which is why I utilized the tips my teachers taught me.

Freshman year my teacher introduced me to something that helped me out tremendously

that I know will definitely be useful for you guys. She was the first to introduce me to

annotating, a tool that helps with comprehending a text. Annotating is when you add key notes to

what you are reading on your text. These key notes can be your feelings about a certain sentence

and or paragraph, highlighting important information, defining words you don’t understand etc.

This is extremely helpful because you can refer back to your notes while having a class

discussion. Before I started to annotate I remember being so nervous when ever a socratic

seminar was scheduled because I couldn’t comprehend the text properly. I also went it with the

mindset that I was going to fail because I didn’t soak in the material. This made me feel like I

was dumb because I was one of the few who wouldn’t talk. When I started annotating, class

discussions became easier as I progressed. Annotating helped me a ton because I read my notes

before discussions to refresh my memory. I was also able to identify the thesis of the text and

main points throughout the reading. After annotating I was able to easily refer back to my notes

to express my opinions and to ask any question I might have had. I started to participate in

socratic seminars and I realized that when you comprehend a text you can properly engage with
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your peers leading to an even better understanding of the text. Slowly but surely, I started to see

improvement in my grade because I became involved. I grew confident in what I was talking

about instead of not knowing what the text was about.

Writing was another area I struggled in through out high school. For me it was hard to get

key points on the paper because I couldn’t comprehend the readings that went along with it. I

was struggling in writing because I didn’t understand the text. To properly write a paper you

need to know what you’ll be talking about first. Not only did annotating make reading easier, it

made my writing process go smoothly. It made it easier because my thesis and supporting

evidence were already highlighted. Another method that helped with my writing was something I

have been doing in all my writing assignments in college, revision and peer reviews. Having

someone read your paper and point out areas that need improvement helped me a ton. My peers

helped me by showing me what my paper was missing and what I can do to improve my overall

grade. In high school I wouldn’t really revise my paper as much as I do now and I can proudly

say that my writing has gotten better since. Revising helps with adding in important information

needed for your paper and makes sure it is grammatically correct. Before I would always worry

when ever a paper was due and will dread the moment my teachers passed out our grades. Now I

write more at ease and don’t stress over my first drafts because I know I won’t get it right the

first time. When writing a paper I suggest writing freely at first, then have someone look over

your work. Feedback and spending time revising helps better your paper because your peers

inform you on ways to improve it and you are constantly reading it to catch little grammatical

errors here and there that can make a huge difference in your grade.
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All in all, you are bound to face a struggle in high school and it won’t take a day to

overcome, it will take time. I’m here to remind you that it is okay everyone has them. When you

overcome them it teaches you a lot and in the future you will handle it better. My advice to you

is to find what works best for you in school, when you go about things what way do you succeed

more in?

Sincerely,

Jocelynn Cuevas