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            As a transfer student from Miami Dade College, I had no concept of how class at a ‘real college’ would be like. I began the spring semester consistently feeling a step behind. My initial experience with ENC 2135 was no different. While the ideology of teaching a class through a unique platform such as a blog intrigued me through an instructor’s perspective, personally it was difficult to hear. I am someone who embodies logistics and facts, “by the book” if you will, and therefore feel comfortable in an academic setting. Creativity however, well now that is a little more difficult to come by. Essentially the course’s overall nature poked perennially at the weak link of my student resume. This only escalated with the introduction of the first project, a narrative. Now, I humbly propose that I have the ability to write at a high level. Further, I believe that I can write a pretty mean argumentative or analytical essay. BUT A NARRATIVE. Anyway, I understood I had quite the challenge in front of me and with a 4.0 grade point average on the line, I knew I had to simply shape up. This process initially began with me constantly bothering Mat after class, attempting to pick his brain for any sort of direction for the project. In cohesion with the mentor text presented in class, the strategy paid its dividends (sorry Mat). I wrote the project about the first ever event to single handedly change the course of my life. I snapped both the radius and ulna of my left arm on January 19, 2017 and since then I have always known that I will never forget that day. What I didn’t realize however, is how much I remember. While just getting the first few words down on the paper seemed impossible, once I began, I became engulfed in an unfortunate memory. The words kept coming as I was simply recalling the past. However, as the plot of my life thickened, so did the lump in my throat. The assignment allowed me to, for the first time, incorporate real emotion within my writing. After the one on one conference with Mat, some impactful advice, and slight revision, it became a piece of writing I am now genuinely proud of. Which as my own biggest critic, created huge relief. With a new found mentality toward the class, I began feeling as if I was slowly getting on pace. Luckily, this trend wasn’t bucked too much by project two and after some brief, concept related questions, I was again feeling comfortable. Though I had never written an essay with scholarly citations previously, Mat’s lectures and the trip to Strozier library provided me with information that I will undoubtedly use outside the scope of ENC 2135. While I ended up still having some difficulties conceptualizing genre’s, I feel as if I made huge steps forward and acquired a unique method of analysis. Lastly, when introduced to project 3, I was content that we would have so much leeway in how to present our ideas. In my head I had immediately started to brainstorm my genres. I knew I needed a sort of modern genre and chose an Instagram account to fulfill this twenty first century necessity. Next, I developed a Piktochart, giving me the ability to clearly display otherwise complex data. With my third genre however, is where I began to struggle. Originally, I had decided to compose an open letter but quickly just got bored of the idea. Being given so much free reign, I wanted to do something different. I did not give in to these initial thoughts though and began writing the letter. After struggling for what seemed like hours on end to write an introduction, I decided I would force myself to just to type absolutely anything. The result, a subpar spoken word poem riddled with big concerns and bigger implications. I likely would have never imagined myself willingly submitting a poem of sorts for a grade, but the unique curriculum of this class has absolutely helped me expand my portfolio as a student. While no class is ever going to be “life changing” or “absolutely amazing”, I do believe after being a part of ENC 2135 141, I am better suited for classes in my future.

Final Reflection

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