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Marlon Moring

Professor Batty

English 101

09 September 2019

What I’ve Learned

A lot of things happened in this semester. It was my first time in college and I’ve

already learned how hard it is compared to being in high school. In my first semester, I’ve

learned that college students should be independent but they should also learn to ask or go to a

campus resource for help. I’ve experienced some problems on my first semester. As a student, I

tend to do my homework one or two days before the deadline and I’ve learned that doing this

kind of thing will only make it worse for me in the future. I couldn’t easily change this attitude

but I’m trying my best to change it. In the English 101, I’ve experienced a lot of things and

learned a lot in this subject. Being in this class helped me improve a lot and I hope that I’ll keep

improving in a lot of ways. This is just the start of my journey in college and I am sure that there

are still things that I can learn in school and also learn more about my strengths and weaknesses.

There’s a lot of things that I’ve learned in the English 101. For example, I’ve learned how

to write an essay using MLA style. I’ve learned how to create a proper argumentative essay. I’ve

also learned how to create a thesis where it included a so what question and I also learned how to

create a “quote sandwich.” Another thing that I learned in creating an essay is how to properly

organize an essay and search for reliable sources that I’m going to use in my essay. I also learned

how to create an outline for my essay. I’ve learned this thing through a class discussion, writing
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essays, having response to a peer review, and reading the response of the professor. I also

learned what a graphic novel is and know what visual rhetoric techniques are. I’ve also learned

how to use these techniques in expressing my story in a graphic novel. I’ve learned about these

things through the discussion in class, reading the graphic novel “The Best We Could Do” by

Thi Bui and creating our own graphic novel. By creating this graphic novel, I’ve learned

different stories of my classmates.

I’ve also learned different types of barriers of a Latinx student. I didn’t have any idea

about these kind of things. I didn’t know that Latinx students have a lot of problems and that it is

hindering them from being successful. While writing an essay about this topic, I’ve also learned

about different ways that could solve the problem of some Latinx student. I learned these things

by researching about these things for my essay and also during the lecture of the professor.

Another thing that I’ve learned is about the immigrant people. I’ve learned different stories of

immigrant people, I also learned about the intergenerational trauma and how it can ruin a family.

I’ve also learned about the pros and cons of assimilating to a different country’s culture. I’ve also

learned the good and bad effects of learning either the country’s adopted language or your native

language. I was able to know about these things by writing an essay about immigration, reading

the graphic novel “The Best We Could Do” by Thi Bui, reading 4 different articles about the

immigration, and going to the play about immigrants. Everything that I’ve learned in English

101,

I think one of my weaknesses is that I don’t really use all of the resources that are

available and can help me in writing an essay. I know that these could help me more in writing

an essay and I should take advantage of it but I don’t really feel like going to one of these things.
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Sometimes I’m also struggling in creating a thesis for my essay. I find it difficult sometimes in

answering the so what question. I know that going to the writing center could help me but I

couldn’t see myself in going to the writing center. I know I have to change this attitude so I could

improve a lot more in writing an essay.

What I’m hoping to improve on is to write a better thesis for my essay. I’m also hoping to

improve on writing the body paragraphs because sometimes my body paragraph doesn’t connect

to my thesis and I end up redoing most of it. I also want to improve in critical thinking because I

sometimes I could not keep up with what I’m reading. These are just some of the things that I

wanted to improve on and I really want to improve more on a lot of things. To achieve these, I

have to start going to a writing center or using all the campus resources that are available for me

and would help me in improving.

This semester, I’ve learned a lot and I’m hoping to apply these things in creating an essay

for the school and also in becoming a better person. I still have a lot of things to improve on and

I know that I can do it. I just need to work harder to achieve my goals. I should not be shy or

afraid in going to these resources and I should ask for help if I don’t understand something.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed this semester and I’m hoping that next year, I could do a lot better so I can

be proud of myself.