Thursday, December 13, 2012

Reflection Letter


 
December 6, 2012
 Professor Jerome McKeever
Corporate College West
25425 Center Ridge Road
Room 301 D
Westlake, Ohio 44145
Word Count: 912
Dear Professor McKeever:
 
As I reflect on the last twelve weeks of this course, I remember my initial fear and the reservations I had about taking an English composition course. It had been a long time since I had to write a paper for school. I was not really sure that I wanted to do this. I have never considered myself to be a strong essayist. The thoughts, feelings and ideas come easily to me, but I struggle when I actually have to put them down on paper. But, as most students know, English is a requirement and I had to complete this course before I could really go any further with my education. Once I reviewed the syllabus, the schedule of assignments, the MLA format, and only managed an 8 out of 10 on the MLA format quiz, that was it, I can remember thinking “Houston we have a problem.”
However, from the beginning of this semester, until now, I have grown much more confident and at ease with my writing skills. I am able to comfortably put those thoughts and ideas down on paper. I am even more at ease with the MLA format, my grammar and punctuation. I found Smarthinking.com to be an extremely helpful tool. The feedback was a huge help for me.  
I really enjoyed the discussion boards. It was nice to put my thoughts down in a not-so-formal setting. I also really enjoyed being able to see what the other students were thinking about a particular topic. I enjoyed reading my fellow students thoughts and seeing their different styles of writing. Plus, it was gratifying when a fellow student had a positive comment about my discussion board post.
The essays you provided us were actually quite good. I found every one of them to be interesting to read. Without a doubt, my favorite was “Love is a Fallacy” under lesson 4, evaluating an argument. I found it to be funny and very witty. Not to mention, it helped to really understand the different propaganda techniques that are used today.
The assigned text book was a world of help. It really provided me with a solid foundation to start my papers. It was easy to read and filled with excellent tips and ideas. It laid out exactly how my paper should be formatted. I found it to be an invaluable tool for me. It is something I will definitely keep and refer back to, as I continue my education.
I have included all of my essays on my digital portfolio. Given my reservations about taking this course, I am quite proud of all of the pieces I wrote. I would have to say the writing I found the most pleasurable/interesting was my restaurant review. It was a restaurant that I fondly remembered from my high school days and I was anxious to try it again. It was a good, if not better than I remembered. Regardless if the review was positive, or negative, I found this essay to be the enjoyable to write. I never really struggled with what I wanted to say, or how I wanted to say it.
The assignment I struggled with the most was my evaluation of the Tiger Mom. It was really difficult for me to decide if this woman was a really great mother, who would raise very successful children or an overbearing, pain, whose children would one day resent her. I usually don’t struggle with picking a side in an argument, but in this case, I had a rough time.
As this class concludes, I am grateful I took this course. I have learned far more than I ever expected to. This course will definitely help me as I continue my education. Everything that I learned in this class will somehow be applied in future courses.
In addition, I really enjoyed having you as my professor for this course. I am so thankful for your guidance this semester. I truly appreciated your thoughts, feedback and insight into my work. An added bonus was that you are a football fan. I really enjoyed our football conversations. Should you ever decide to leave teaching, I see professional scouting in your future! My decision to return to school was a tough one. I have a family and a fulltime job. I wasn’t sure it was something I really wanted to do, or had the time to do. However, I knew something inside of me was not complete and I was looking for new challenges and adventures. Having you as my professor has made me want to continue and really succeed with my classwork. If I could finish this course, and do it well, I feel confident that I can be just as successful with my other courses. I consider myself blessed to have met a professor who enjoys teaching and has taken more than just a passing interest in his students. The way you planned the lessons and your above mentioned feedback made this class very enjoyable. My only hope is that other students, or returning students, from the work place have a professor that can inspire, motivate and educate with such a novel approach.
Thank you very much for everything you have done to help me this semester. I wish you nothing but the best. GO IRISH!
 
Sincerely,
 
Jason Lowbridge
 
 

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