Negrete 1 Javier Negrete Jr Mrs.

Fuentes English 1101-08 06, December 2013 The Overall Reflection For the first time, we college students are living on our own. We are free to explore the world and to make new friends. Most of us are living as individuals, and feel determined to change lives somehow. It all starts by finding and extracting ourselves completely from the uncertainty and vagueness of conformity. It starts by communicating ideas, emotions, actions, and perspectives through our unique voice. In English 1101, I learned the discipline of leaving my unique mark on paper while discovering areas that I could have improved my learning experience and understanding how this new skill will help me in the rest of my college experience. I practiced over and over again to find comfort in making my literary voice speak in my in class writings, and to have a consistent pattern of expression in my writing. For example, I found that I tend to include a Petrarchan volta in my opinion writing. In scenarios, like these, I begin writing about what I dislike about the subject and complete the thought by changing the direction of my mood and talk about ways to change it or by giving an optimistic approach. Another example of how my voice speaks in my writing is my tendency to make metaphors and references to characters or subjects from a movie or television show. The literacy memoir includes many references to the movie, Avatar, and the show, Avatar, the last Air Bender to enhance the audiences understanding. Coming to understand how my literary voice is expressed throughout my writing, I reflected on ways that my writing experience could have been better. A trend that tends to occur with independence and freedom is procrastination and not having enough time to plan research for extensive papers. Many excuses could be made to explain why, but

Negrete 2 they do not change the fact that there just was not enough time to produce better writing. I would have liked to have taken more time out of my busy schedule and done more research for the discourse community ethnography. If I used my time wisely, I would have been able to continue my original plan to find a discourse community in the Muslim Student Association. Having the time to do it, I would have had some of my friends take the time to translate some of the things that were said in their meetings and prayer groups. Because time was running out, I settled by writing about a subject that that I was more familiar with. Knowing where to improve is always better for the future. I know for sure that this learning process will take me higher as I continue my education through my career choice. Understanding how my thought process is expressed will be very useful as I come closer to the day I will be called, Dr. Negrete. I now realize how important it is to express my individuality in my unique way. This is better understood if I compare my mode of expression as the sound an instrument makes in a symphony. My voice, like any string or woodwind instrument, will become part of a collection of voices and opinions of a higher education community of research and careers of this university. If I continue to express myself in my unique way, it offers a different and new perspective to others who may be looking. I expect that this is to be the general consensus for a university that values diversity and individuality. Here at UNC Charlotte, diversity and individuality are given a high value because it reflects our nations motto and because it helps to see differences of the world in one center. I have learned much about myself and how I communicate with others with my English writings. This portfolio collects my process and my progress towards a better writer. It is a collection of how I found my voice and how it will eventually play a part in a larger scope of the community.