Zachary Seiff

Pacitto

English 101

December 10th, 2019

Reflection essay

The first semester went by in the blink of an eye, I never would have expected that in

such a short period of time I would be able to grow so much, not only academically, but

mentally, and emotionally as well. I may not have handed in every paper early like I said I would

in my intro letter, but if I could go back in time to the beginning of the semester, I wouldn't

change a thing. I may have made mistakes, but in my eyes they were valuable lessons that taught

me things I would have never learned otherwise.

My first major assignment of the year was the Intro letter. Where I envisioned my self at

the end of the semester, I had to hypothetically guide my journey through the class, while

explaining how I've developed, and changed. My original copy was quite good, even though

some of it was inaccurate, when I revised it for my e-portfolio, similarly to all of my other

essays, I did not make any drastic changes. I focused on changing my writing style, Making it

slightly more formal and academic. The reason I did this is because I think it flows better, much

of my writing has also stayed unmodified for that same reason.

For my memoir I wrote a snippet of the most notable part of my life where I defied the

odds by going from pull out classes in middle school, to honors classes in high school while

having somewhat severe ADHD. I personally believe that the memoir was my best essay, but it

did not come without its errors. For my revision I wanted to fix its major problem of excluding
certain details that add much needed context to my story. I added to certain parts of the story that

were lacking details to give context in hopes to make the story easier to understand.

My Profile involved myself having to interview someone who is originally from a

different country,we compared our cultures, and all around lifestyle to see both similarities and

differences. The profile was definitely my most difficult assignment, and my path to finish the

original copy was filled with unforeseen bumps, and ditches that made it extremely hard to finish

in time. The biggest problem that this essay had was how it transitioned between paragraphs. I

fixed this by adding necessary context to the top and bottom of each paragraphs that needed it.

I compiled all of my revised essays on my website. I wanted this essay to not only

represent who I am as a writer, but as a person as well. This website is meant to be very personal,

as there are many different pictures, and memories that are very significant and important to me.

It highlights my long, and still incomplete story. I designed my website to represent many

different pieces of my life, without overcrowding the pages. I express myself through my website

just like I do through writing.

This class has changed the way I look at writing, I've come to appreciate well written

pieces of literature. This class has also taught me many lessons on what not to do when preparing

for an essay, most infamously procrastination. I watched myself grow throughout the semester as

i've become a more refined writer in all aspects, even the strong points in my writing have

improved indefinitely. I hope that I continue to learn, and thrive for the rest of my college career