Reflection Letter
As an incoming freshman in college I did not know what to expect, especially in English. The results I received for the English Placement Examination I took as a senior in high school showed my overall score displayed I had the ability to succeed in English 802 without taking English 701. As a result of that, the Placement Test Readers give me permission to enroll in English 802 even though they recommended that I take English 701 prior. After I skimmed through that sentence in the email I received I stopped reading, I knew what class I could take and obviously could not spend another second of my summer thinking about school. Despite the test readers concerns and my concerns about not being fully prepared for the higher level English I opted to enroll in English 802 without taking English 701. Upon revisiting the email during the last two weeks of this semester and reading it through for the first time the Placement Test Readers explained they strongly recommend that I consider registering for English 701 because the essay I wrote was not at the passing level for the Placement Examination. This definitely explains the struggles I faced while writing my papers throughout the semester.
English 802 has propelled me into thinking in ways that are outside of my comfort zone. I have come to the realization that taking a stand on a topic based on my own opinion does not necessarily mean my opinion is going to the most practically angle to write from. And although I may not agree with what I am writing about there may be from information about a topic from a different angle, making it a more manageable paper to write. Clearly stating my argument is where I struggled the most this semester. It was something that was never focused on so heavily in high school so it was new territory for me.
I was fond of peer review and our one-on-one conferences with Professor Himeles because of the feedback I would receive. I had never participated in anything like peer review and honestly I originally thought it was a huge waste of time. On the other hand, the questions my peers would ask me about my paper really did help in furthering my thinking about the topic. The feedback forced me