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Andrea Martinez
Professor Batty
English 28
December 5 2016

Reflective Essay
My first semester at Los Angeles Valley College I was given the opportunity to be a part
of this program named Puente. This particular club represents the bridge between
underprivileged Latino students and four-year universities. Now just as any other clubs there are
fees to be paid, courses to be taken, and meetings to attend. Our first semester were required to
take English 28 & Counseling 1 and honestly both of these courses educated me in areas thatll
be vital for the rest of my college career. My English course for example enlightened me and
truly showed me my weaknesses and strengths when it comes to my writing. I was required to
write, read, and think critically as an author. Certain assignments and articles helped me mature
as a writer. This reflective essay is dedicated to the significance of how Ive improved over the
semester in all aspects of my writing.
Before even beginning my English course I strongly believed that my penmanship was
decent. However, as Shannon Fritcher quotes, There is always room for improvement. I
strongly agree with that. I was very open to the advice and criticism given by Professor Batty.
For that reason I discovered my strength and weaknesses as a writer. I realized that Im not
particularly comfortable writing an argumentative essay. On the other hand I become very
passionate about something I can relate to or something that pertains to me. The book we
received at the beginning of the course, They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy
Birkenstein was a tremendous aid. The book demonstrated how to properly write a thesis, how to

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quote passages and quotes, and how to use signal verbs that fit the action. I particularly
appreciated that they provided us with examples of different templates for different scenarios and
how we can use transitional words properly. Another aspect that I admired of the class was the
fact that occasionally we were given the opportunity to have a free write at the beginning of
our class. That small portion of time we were given to just free our minds and jot down our
thoughts and ideas actually helped us as writers. It helped us think out of the box and be creative
without the fear of getting a poor grade. I hope to improve how I write a thesis, I believe it needs
improvement and also Id like my argumentative essays to be stronger and be more concise.
Throughout this course I learned many new things that would be vital to other courses and future
papers.
Through the duration of this course we were given a book to read named Enriques
Journey by Sonia Nazario and while reading it we were required to do Reading Journals which
meant that sentences, quotes, or even words that were of significance to us we were required to
write down why it was of importance to us. We also read out of an E-Book called Models for
Writers by Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz. It was designed to help us learn to write by
providing us with a collection of modeled essays. As I mentioned before, the textbook we used
for this class was They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Reading these books
truly helped us throughout this course in our writing and our reading comprehension. I believe
my reading comprehension is acceptable and I honestly dont think it needs any work.
Critical thinking was vital during this course. In certain aspects you needed to be openminded and considerate. Most or the articles and stories we read, we basically had to interpret the
main idea in our own words. For most of the essay topics we had to be creating and think out-ofthe-box. Critical thinking played a big role throughout this course. However, I hope to be more

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open- minded in the future because not everyone thinks like me and everybody is entitled to their
own opinion. Being both unbiased and considerate gives you the opportunity to gain more
knowledge and who knows, you may even agree with certain ideas or consider others logic. This
class really helped me open up and say what I feel without the fear of being judged.
Overall this course has changed my perspective and showed me a new approach to
writing and reading techniques. The things I learned in this classroom will forever follow me in
life. What Ive gained in the class isnt just for school purposes but this knowledge can be used
in all facets of life. Im grateful to have been given this opportunity.