Reflection/Portfolio Essay
Over the course of these past few months, I have noticed some significant change in me, as a writer. It seems I have achieved much and as the semester comes to an end, I can say I am in the position to reflect what I have learned and how I have coped with all the hurdles on my way. Among the most important attributes I have gained –not mastered yet, of course, but trying- is how to become a better writer. To be honest, it was rather far-fetched to believe I could improve my writing skills, due to the procrastination that described me. I thought college writing would be a struggle for me. However, to my surprise, and after long and tedious efforts and putting my soul on providing papers of the utmost quality possible, I now feel somewhat content with my writing skills.
It was obvious to me that if I wanted to become a better writer, I had to concentrate on the two things that kept me far from meeting the objective of the courses. First of all, I had to work on the content, and provide my teacher with the best I could write. In the past, I used to write without any structured plan in my mind, or written down on a piece of paper. I would just allow my thoughts to invade and make paragraphs out of them. With the help from my teacher, I managed to a considerable degree, to avoid dry content and information that often seemed rather out of place, by getting my sources earlier and organising my time better. In the past, I would get my sources to the last minute, which did not give me enough time to go through a quality search. Of course, it had a direct impact on my writing. Now, I plan ahead, gather my sources at an earlier time, evaluate them more, and take the best facts from them all, prior using them. Since I no longer pick out the first interesting parts I find in a source, like I used to, my papers have better quality. In addition, since the process of retrieving information has been enhanced, I have learned how to organise my thoughts better, and with organised ideas comes a more structured paper. I can put together the information I find and want to use in my papers more efficiently, introducing the most important ones first and moving all the way down to those of the least importance. Unquestionably, presenting a more structured paper with more organised information is a satisfactory first step towards becoming a better writer.
The second thing I have found myself blocking me was procrastination, which was a bad habit of mine for many years that I have always wanted to change; I guess, I did not want strong enough though. Given the difficulties one has to face when trying to quit a bad habit, since bad habits tend to solidify in one’s life, I was literally struggling when assigned a 10-page paper that required a lot of time to do it. I did not start working on it until the night before the deadline, and, needless to say, my paper lacked consistency and uniformity. It clearly showed signs of a writer that had not devoted the time required to present a good paper. From then on, I gradually learned to get my sources for a while prior the due date and start the writing process some days before the delivery date. That attribute I have gained, or cultivated, has taught me that the earlier I start working on a paper, the better the final result will be.
Having said that; I also found out another remarkable accomplishment when looking back at my writings from a few years ago. It seems that I have managed to get my messages and points across more clearly. When reading my past papers, I could see where I was heading, but, in the majority of cases, I did not actually made it there. This is mainly because I had valid points, but they were not presented nicely. Now that I go through my past essays, I can see that the way I supported my ideas lacked consistency and prevented the reader from further reading. Throughout this semester, I have learned to think more of what my audience would like to read and used examples that leave them feeling my paper actually had something to tell them.
With my research and organisation skills improved, and as I became more punctual, while planning ahead and writing considering my audience, I think I have improved as a writer. I have been able to change bad habits that kept me away from reaching my true potential when writing, and even though I have not yet completely eliminated them, I have reduced procrastination to a minimum. I have also improved with evaluating my sources and picking the most appropriate ones, and as much ahead of time as possible. The combination of them all make me collect better information and come up with a better paper. All around, I believe I have benefited a great deal from this class, which has helped me evolve as a writer.
