This is English Class

I could write an entire thesis just about what I have learned in English this year, but I
have to study for finals and Im sure you have lots of papers to get through Mrs. Pinto, so lets
keep this as succinct as possible.
When I began forcing myself through The Odyssey, I did not anticipate enjoying English
class, but man, was I pleasantly surprised. I think the IB office should rename this course, A
Beginners Guide to Philosophy, Psychology, and Life or something because that would be way
more appropriate than Pre-IB English 9.
I loved writing essays for English this year. Each paper I wrote not only gave me a
chance to explore my ideas about a book, but also work on improving my writing. I learned to be
confident in my writing and in my ideas because most of the time the stuff I crank out is pretty
solid. That said this class has also expedited my reconciliation with the fact that though I can
write pretty well, I am most definitely not one of those geniuses who can begin a paper a two
AM the night before its due and get a 100. The quality of my writing and thus, my satisfaction
with my grade, depends mostly on how much work I put into a paper. I kind of dropped the ball
on these last couple assignments which I thought I would be okay with, as my letter grade wasnt
really affected. However, I learned this year that it really bothers me to know that I didnt do as
well on an assignment just because I didnt put in the effort.
Having this class first period also taught me how to be punctual. To be perfectly honest, it
did (initially) annoy me a little that you didnt cut me any slack, but now I am immensely
grateful. I have learned that punctuality is an important sign of respect and I have learned how to
manage my mornings in order to be on time.
My favorite part of this year was the unit we did on culture and the immigrant experience
in America. I, as well as several of my peers, really related to books like Hunger of Memory:
The Education of Richard Rodriguez, The Monkey King, and The Joy Luck Club. Authors like
Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston put into words ideas that were inherent in the fabric of my
experiences though I had never really thought about them. All my life, I ignored (or tried to
ignore) the cultural conflicts in my life, but this semester, I was forced to analyze the experiences
of first generation Americans such as myself, which circuitously helped me address my personal
identity struggles. Although, as I have learned this year, issues do not resolve neatly, and cultural

conflict is something I think will continue to profoundly impact my life and my world view for
the duration of my time on this earth before I get reincarnated (hopefully as a Buddha!).
Not only did I grow as writer and a person this year, I grew tremendously as a reader. The
books we read this year like The Odyssey and Frankenstein were always ones that I grew up
thinking were super deep and unapproachable. When I started reading some of them last
summer, I swear I could not keep my eyes open through all the symbolism, allusions, and
verbose stylistic choices. It was a still a little tough getting through these books during the school
year, but our discussions in class and our writing assignments helped me understand what all
those crazy, brilliant writers were going on about.
Mrs. Pinto, I dont really know how to wrap this up because Ive really had such an
amazing year. This reflection probably seems like a paper written by an ber try-hard, but this is
truthfully how I feel about this class. I still have to remind myself everyday that this is water, but
I feel like Im at least beginning to understand what it means to be human and beginning to be
able to empathize with and understand people on a level less superfluous than I have had before.
So I just wanted to thank you Mrs. Pinto for helping me get here; hopefully this is just the
beginning.