Dear Ms.

Jizi,
I want to start my letter off by describing how I felt when I saw Writing on my schedule this
semester. I was annoyed by the fact that as a science major hoping to be a doctor, I would have to
sit in a writing class. I didnt think I was good at writing and avoided writing papers as much as
possible all throughout high school. It took too long to gather my thoughts and type them up in a
word document. I assumed it was because I was just a logical, scientific thinker. The negative
self-concept I had regarding my writing was probably my biggest weakness because I believe it
hindered my writing in the beginning of the semester. I didnt write a lot because I didnt think I
was good at it.
One of the first in class assignments you had us do was the free-writing exercises in the
beginning of class. You told us it was going to help us become a better writer and I went along
with it because thats the student I am. Three weeks later and it became one of my favorite
assignments. Taking note of all the thoughts I had as they pass through my brain was funny to me
because I could look back and observe my mental process. It was also satisfying to see how
much I could write at the end of the day. This new ability created that allowed me to freely write
my thoughts out without any mental blocks is definitely one of my strengths now as a writer.
Another assignment that ended up helping me out a lot was the cluster write. This was a helpful
exercise as well because I was able to lay all my thoughts out on paper and look at them and how
they connect with each other. I now consistently use this method to brainstorm in every class.
These two exercises gave me relief when preparing to write essays and made the process a little
easier.
The first actual essay you gave us was the literary narrative, where we wrote about our early
experiences as a writer. This is when I realized my ill feelings towards writing came from my

early education. I found out I was annoyed with the reading and writing curriculum that was
forced upon me. Not being able to write or read what interested me really influenced how I used
to look at literature and writing as a whole. The exercises you had us write in preparation for the
assignment helped make the essay easier too. Asking us questions like what is your earliest
memory pertaining to literature? and how do you feel about it now? really got my brain
thinking. The set-up you created for us made the assignment a lot less painful and I even enjoyed
writing it due to my lack of struggle organizing it.
The next essay we wrote was the first Self Authorship Essay, where we discussed how other
people look at us as well as how we look at ourselves. I liked this assignment because I was able
to look at myself from varying perspectives. It was probably the most important assignment that
was given to us. This is the assignment I think that pulled me out of my comfort zone and made
me a better writer. I wrote about things that I would never openly discuss with people such as my
family conflicts and how they affected me as a person. You had us explore our own values and
character traits and turned them into strengths and weaknesses. I found out that I value happiness
and inner-peace. I also value friendships and my family. Never would I have thought that my
kindness and generosity was actually a strength, as opposed to a weakness. This assignment was
even less painful then the literary narrative and I began to see myself growing as a writer.
The second Self Authorship Essay was about where we see ourselves in five years from now.
This assignment topic somewhat challenged me because I didnt think much of where I would be
in five years as opposed to the next 10 or 15. At first I didnt have much to write about because
in five years from now Id still be in school as I am now. You then broke the assignment down by
introducing the PERMA model and the writing just flowed from me. The PERMA model was
also a good method to assess my current emotional health. I now understand that to be happy I

have to balance different aspects of my life such as positive emotion, relationships, achievement
and other factors.
The next work we had was the Extended Inquiry Project. I somewhat struggled on this project
because I didnt take the time to sit and choose a topic. You gave us assignments to complete
such as the interest inventory and Developing a Working Knowledge and I was just going
through the motions in order to get a completion grade. I knew I wanted to write about surgeries
because thats what I was interested in. Specifically, I was interested in surgeries involving the
skin and surrounding tissues. When we went to the library to use the search engine for
information I wasnt even sure of what I wanted to research. I had to ask myself what about
surgeries did I want to write about and eventually I found the topic of surgical procedures such as
cutting and stitching the skin. Later I realized this was too broad of topic and had to start all over
with the preparatory assignments. I started to become annoyed with writing again due to these
struggles. However, I continued to search for something to write about until I came across plastic
surgery. The idea came to me from a show called Greys Anatomy that I had been watching
lately. I wanted to research plastic surgery and the varying perspectives surrounding it because I
was unsure of my own. Once I figured out my topic, I was easily able to search for good sources
on the WorldCat engine you showed us and could begin my research. The double entry journals
were very helpful as well because instead of just skimming for information that might be helpful,
I could assess my information as a whole. After gathering all my sources and information, I just
let the new knowledge flow and added my opinions on the topic as well. My research looked at
the benefits and cons on cosmetic procedures and helped me come to a conclusion on the topic as
a whole. From researching the different perspectives surrounding the field of cosmetic surgery as
well as the people who undergo treatment, I decided that people should be able to freely got

through life however they want without worrying about the opinion of others. This conclusion
also correlates to my own values of life such as happiness and peace that I found in my original
Self Authorship Essay. I also realized that not every teacher is going to set up my essay for me as
well as you did and I need to be able to do it on my own.
After creating my EIP essay, we were asked to create a genre project. For the longest time I had
no idea what a genre project even was. This is why I struggled with the project, because I didnt
understand the point of it. I thought I had to come up with an artistic way to present my
information and wow the class. However, after looking at the resources given to us and doing
my own research, I came up with my idea. I realized the point of the project was not to create a
work of art but to present my project in a different way. Although I still wanted to show some
artistic ability, I believe my prezi presentation got my point across to the audience very well. It
wasnt hard to complete either because I had already gathered and laid out my information in my
EIP. A trend I noticed with all my work is that once I organize my thoughts and information, the
assignment becomes easier.
The e-portfolio was the last of all my assignments and was easy as well. Looking back on my
work was interesting because I felt accomplished about all the essays and assignments I had done
over the semester. I was able to see that I had grown immensely in my writing while observing
all my work.
Overall, this writing class was not as painful as I assumed it would be. Some days I really
enjoyed the writing you had us do because I was comfortable with it. Other days I was too tired
or bored to pay attention. However, I gained some confidence in my writing during my freshmen
year that I hope will continue to increase throughout my undergraduate education.