Dear Teacher:
Thank you for this opportunity to reflect on, and learn from the essay I wrote. The essay assignment and this class is another positive step along the path I started on when my second grade teacher called me read that poem aloud. I must confess my initial reaction to writing my first college essay held about as much self-confidence as my first poetry reading. Nevertheless, I got through it and now my enthusiasm for writing is even greater!
I was surprised to discover that the hardest part of writing was putting the first word down onto the page. Somehow, that big white space seemed to be staring at me, defying me to mar it with my feeble efforts. The first sentence was easier, but it was still hard, this was true about that first paragraph. This certainly did not go the way I planned. There I was, trying to write about how much I love to write, and I could not find the words.
Since it was a reflection, I reflected back to my early childhood and my first feelings about reading and writing. I saw that I was going through the same emotional turmoil on a college level as I did in my first Kindergarten writing experiences; only this time I would not have three years and a poem to get through them. I also much more mature and determined than I was at that age, so I pulled myself together and just kept on writing. I never expected to have such an emotional response to writing an essay. I never had such strong feelings about writing before. I guess that is because this was the first time I was really putting my personal feelings down on paper, and claiming them as my own.
Once I cleared that up in my mind, the whole assignment became easier. I decided to make a step-by-step list of the stages I went through to learn what I now know about writing. This worked out well. From that point on, I could go back and fill in the gaps. I realized I solved my problem by writing an outline first. Up to now, outlines were an annoyance. Now I know that an outline can be a valuable tool. I will never set out to write another essay without drafting at least a quick outline first, this is not because I realized that an outline is part of every essay, whether my teacher includes it in the instructions or not. I think this already shows in my writing; it certainly is obvious to me.
Reading someone else’s draft was a revelation to me. Up to now, I thought I was alone in my feelings. When I read someone else’s draft, I realized that I was not so different from everybody else. We all have our struggles to overcome. I think this helped me to provide good feedback because it helped me connect and empathize with the person who wrote the paper in front of me. Because I could make that connection, I was able to give the feedback as constructive criticism. I recognized the other writer as a person, so I started with what was good, and then went on to how it could be better just the way I would like to have someone do with my work. I think This exercise also taught me how to step back and read my own work as if it were written by someone else. I know this will help me on all my future written assignments. I hope you appreciate my gratitude in helping me understand the writing process. When I wrote about the great people who helped me greatly along the way I would like you to understand you are among them, and so is this assignment.
Sincerely,
