Ny Liteiacy Nemoii

Numbei:

Being a transIer sophomore, I consider myselI to have plenty oI English
experience. It was my Iavorite subject all through middle school, high school, and it
continues to be one oI my Iavorite courses in university. Even though I am a serious
procrastinator, I always have enjoyed writing. Even some oI my teachers thought I was
strange because no one could possibly enjoy writing papers, but I do. I have always liked
English, I still like English, and I plan on continuing in an English Iield in my Iuture
career.

I have always received good grades in school, including English class, but I Iirst
started considering pursuing English Iurther aIter my 9
th
grade teacher encouraged me.
AIter handing in a short story that I slaved at Ior a week, I received an A with a note
saying 'Truly exceptional writing! She later told me that she thought I was very talented
and continued to encourage me in my writing. I attended a very small athletic school with
no newspaper, so when a Iriend and I had an overly ambitious plan to start one, this 9
th

grade teacher volunteered herselI to be our sponsor. She was truly a positive inIluence in
my high school English career. My senior year Social teacher was also a positive in my
pursuit oI English and writing. On numerous occasions, she had me write three extra
pages papers when everyone had to do the minimal amount, because she knew my career
ambitions and wanted to push and prepare me Ior university writing. Another one oI my
inIluences was my senior year English teacher. Although he was not as big oI an
inIluence as my two other teachers, he was still very encouraging and always willing to
help or discuss certain topics oI a paper. I do not believe I have had any negative
inIluences on my English experience over the years, or maybe I have and have already
Iorgotten about them, because the positive inIluences were certainly signiIicant and
surely outweighed the negative ones.

The last course I took in English was English 102 at the University at BuIIalo, a
higher English course Ior Ireshman who had higher than average English SAT scores. As
I mentioned, I made the course diIIicult on myselI by procrastinating, I did do very well
and Ielt very proud oI my portIolio in the end. We did everything Irom an analytical
essay that compared an article discussing sex appeal in modern advertising to an actual
advertisement, to an essay that compared surveillance security in a prison called the
'Panopticon to the surveillance we experience in everyday liIe, such ad in a hospital or
school. It was a positive experience in which I had the chance to explore Iields I never
have beIore, and it allowed me to Iurther explore the styles oI writing that I like to use,
and also new ones. As Iar as the outline goes, I Ieel as though the course outline was very
similar to this one so hopeIully I will have learned Irom my mistakes and put more time
into my papers. As mentioned, once I get myselI into it, I love to read and write. Reading
and writing go hand-in-hand, and being able to do so well is the solid base oI any
intellectual. I consider myselI to be quite artistic, and I have always been able to express
myselI the most through writing, so I believe it is a perIect and valuable outlet Ior myselI.

I do not believe I have had any bad experiences in the past with writing, aside
Irom some oI the all-nighters, sitting in the dorm lobby at three o`clock in the morning
with a coIIee and droopy eyelids, but I have had many good experiences, as I have
discussed beIore. I Iind all my writing experiences to be good ones (even those with bad
grades), because nothing compares to the Ieeling oI actually Iinishing a long paper. As I
said, my Social teacher assigned longer than usual papers Ior me because she knew what
I planned on Iocusing on in university, and my Iavorite piece that I have ever written was
a 6 page analysis oI Communism vs. Capitalism. I still have that paper at home and I
actually read it Irom time to time.

Being a person who enjoys writing so much, one would think that I spend lots
of time planning, writing and revising my paper. I regret to say this is not true. I
usually lay out a small plan including ideas for the topic, my stance, and what each
paragraph with entail. Then I write it, usually proof-reading as I go along. Finally, I
do a half-proof/half-skim where I usually change only the obvious issues, and hand
it in. Until now, this process has worked very well for me, even in my past university
course, but maybe if I put more of my time into it, I would be a much better writer.
In the future, I need to start much earlier on my papers, take a few days to write it,
and do a few thorough proof-reads before handing it in. This would probably be
easier for me if I scheduled time each day to work a bit on my paper, that way I can
look at it with fresh eyes every day.

I think I will deIinitely enjoy this class this year. I know it is going to be a lot oI
work Ior me, and I Iear that my interest might Iade later because this is the second time
I`m taking a course like this, but my Iondness Ior writing will keep me working. I know I
will be challenged with my procrastination problem, and there will be long nights and
early mornings trying to get papers done, but this is something I deIinitely plan on
working to improve this semester. I believe I will do as well as I did in my previous class,
iI not better. The key to my success in this class is staying Iocused and actually pushing
myselI to work on my papers aIter long days oI class and practice. Being a student-
athlete, it is hard to be motivated equally in sport and school, but it is part oI the
commitment we made and I know that iI I work really hard at it, I can achieve this goal.