Bethany Crapo

UWRT 1102

Quitadamo

8 May 2017

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Reflection

This year I had a rude awakening when it came to my writing. Coming into college I never

really thought about my writing. In high school, when ever I had a writing assignment they were

always the same. I never really challenged myself, and just tried to meet the basic standards in

order to get a good grade. My writing was very plain and very boring. Looking back at my

writing from high school now, I am very curious as to how I got a good grade in English. One of

the reasons why I never really focused on my writing in high school was because none of my

teachers were really enthusiastic about it. I feel like they were just trying to get through what

they had to for the year, and everything was very rushed. We never really stopped to focus on

just our writing, we were always focusing on a million different things. When I came to college I

started to realise how immature my writing really was. Starting with UWRT 1101, I started to

learn about the different types of writing such as rhetoric writings. My professor, Mrs.

Goldbaugh, taught me to get out of my comfort zone, and to really be creative when it came to

my writing. She taught me that my writing had no boundaries, and that I could literally write

about anything I wanted. That is when I really started writing because I wanted to and not just to

get a good grade on the assignment. I mean yes, sometimes it was hard to write for enjoyment

because the assignment was not interesting to me. However, I started to gain pleasure from

writing instead of annoyance and thinking that writing was such a burden.

After UWRT 1101 I thought that I was pretty advanced on my writing skills and had no

idea what to expect from UWRT 1102. I think that 1102 definitely had me really think about the

quality and technique of my writing. This class was definitely a struggle for me. I had trouble

really understanding what was being asked of me and I didnt exactly get the best grades on my
Bethany Crapo

UWRT 1102

Quitadamo

8 May 2017

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assignments either which was really hard for me because I put in effort and wasnt getting

anything good from it. I did fine in the beginning of the semester, but when it came to the big

assignments, where the grade really mattered, I was having a very tough time. The Critical

Analysis was very hard for me because I didnt really know what I was doing. I definitely

should have done more research on what a critical analysis was because I dont think that I really

grasped the concept of what it was. I also think that If I spent a little more time focusing on just

that I wouldve been able to really understand what I was doing. I ended up getting a C on that

assignment which was also tough, because I never really got a bad grade like that on my writing

before. It was also really helpful to see that grade because it motivated me to take on the next

assignment full force. The next assignment that we had was the research assignment which also

helped me grow a lot as a writer. At first going into the research project I had a tough time

showing both sides of the opinion. I was really stuck on showing just what I thought and only

showed one side. This assignment really helped me to be a little bit more open minded when it

came to my research. I started to really progress in my writing especially in that assignment.

Instead of just thinking about my side of the story it helped me form a better more structural

opinion when I considered both sides of the arguments. Overall I think UWRT 1102 was one of

my toughest classes this semester. It really pushed me to be a better writer and helped me think

and focus more on how to become better and better each time I write something.

I was really glad that I had to take those UWRT courses. I usually would never actually

focus on writing and make it quality, but instead I would just do it because I had to or to earn a

good grade on it. Coming out of this semester I truly think that I am a better writer. I focused
Bethany Crapo

UWRT 1102

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8 May 2017

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more on the types of writing that I did, and what I put into the writing as well. Next year I hope

to push myself even more when it comes to my writing. I want to keep going outside of my

comfort zone so that I am able to better myself as a writer. I want to focus more on the writing

itself, instead of what I would get out of the writing such as the grade.