Alanna Morton
Final Reflective letter
Dear Professor Campbell/ Mr. C, Big Dawg/ various other nicknames (that is how I
addressed you in my first letter!),
I have got to admit this class has been quite an experience. I really enjoyed the
way that you teach. You dont treat us as if we are just students, but you got to know us
on a more personal level. You showed interest in more than just what we wrote, but
instead on whom the writer is and what they might be trying to say through their writing.
You let us know that we could come to you with questions (no matter how stupid the
question is, loved your sense of humor) and you answered those questions accordingly
with examples too! Now, as for the class and all of the assignments: there were a lot.
However, I enjoyed almost every assignment. I will be honest instead of saying I love
every single assignment and blah blah. I truly did enjoy every assignment because I
genuinely enjoy writing, except the annotated bibliography. I just have the worst time
citing my sources correctly no matter what! This class made me see my strengths and my
weaknesses in my writing, showed my progress from the beginning to the end, and really
made me see that I could and did complete the Eportfolio and to be honest I am damn
proud of it!
First, I would like to discuss the freewriting as a process, the Daybook, blogging,
and the peer editing process. Freewriting was actually really enjoyable. Almost every
class I would sit down at 1:55 p.m. pull out my Daybook and then for whatever the topic
of the freewrite was that day I would write it. I would write every Daybook entry in a
different color pen just for fun! Honestly, I really did enjoy the freewrite process because
you could really write whatever you wanted. Whether instructed to write about a
particular assignment and how we are doing on it, or in general how we feel that day, or
something that we really remember reading/writing/doing. I liked it because it helped me
get my thoughts out and to organize just what I was thinking. Specifically, I remember
one of the freewrites was how we feel about some of the work we had done and at that
time I remember I was working on my annotated bibliography, which I really am not a
huge fan of! I wrote, frustrated, annoyed, antsy to finish, will finish, hope to get a good
grade.. It is funny. I enjoy looking back and reading exactly how I felt while working on
this assignment or any assignment. No matter what it is one of those things where you
think you are doing it all correctly and then you get the grade back with all of the marked
up errors and just ouch. I have never been good with citing sources correctly! Anyways,
this is one main reason that I loved having the Daybook. It gave me an opportunity to
look at ideas that had popped in my head for my topic proposal, my literacy narrative,
and even research in general for my EIP.
General and assigned blog posts were a very personal and relieving activity. As I
have mentioned I really enjoy writing so having a blog was a great way to just let out all
my feelings in my writing. For every assigned reading I would read the article and sit in
my desk chair thinking about the deeper meaning. My favorite reading was Joyous
Valadoras, it was an article that really made me realize that it is not solely about the
functioning of different living creatures, BUT more so about how when it comes to an
end it is because every heart eventually runs out of time and beats. Whether that is in two
years like a humming bird or several decades like a whale. When young we think there
will come one person who will savor and sustain us always;() all hearts finally are
bruised and scarred. You cannot run or hide or even be protected from the end. The
reality is that one way or another your hear will run out and no one can stop it. I really
enjoyed the assigned readings because most of the time they had a bigger picture. I like
reading something that makes you think deeper about what the real message is. The
message is never just flat out and said, but is more beyond that. There was also several
TED Talk videos that I wrote reactions to that were also very entertaining because most
of the time they were regarding something that was very relevant and a prevalent topic.
For example, a video named Nobody Writes Alone. The video covers the concept on how
many people produce better writing when they have other people read it over. I
personally feel as though my writing is too personal to share, but I also do find that when
it is peer edited that the outcome of my final piece looks a lot better. Blogging gave me
the opportunity to agree and disagree with the readings and or videos assigned and also
being able to let it all out in my writing. There are several unassigned blog posts that I
had written. I wrote at least four of them. One of them regarding alcohol and drug usage,
another was about suicide pertaining to the recent suicides occurring in colleges, and
even just thoughts going through my head when I am doing my favorite thing which is
running.
The peer editing process was very helpful in working to in develop my writing
and myself as a learner and person. While peer editing the EIP draft I was able to not
only help my partner, Jenny Nguyen, see her mistakes, but also to open my eyes up to
some common mistakes that I may make when I am writing. After she peer edited my
paper she gave me a lot of suggestions on either rewording sentences, fixing grammatical
errors, or further elaborating on certain parts. After rereading my final EIP I could
definitely see an improvement in my writing. I would suggest maybe throughout the year
or for certain assignments be sure that the peer editing partners are actually peer editing
and giving feedback to their partners. Jenny and I were partners and our third partner did
not do any of our peer editing. But, then again this made us have to take action to make
sure that we did complete our peer editing, so at the same time this helped us to take
responsibility and be sure we got it done.
My most important work in this class was my Literacy Narrative. My literacy
narrative pertained to how I am literate in communication skills through my job
waitressing at IHOP. I go into details about a specific encounter with a customer. But,
really in this piece of writing underneath the story and the information on how I am
literate in communications skills comes out the real meaning behind this piece of writing,
which is that I work to communicate. I communicate to learn. I learn to better understand.
I understand to communicate better. I communicate better to learn how to test myself in
an even deeper way. I have become literate in communication and have become a better
and stronger me. A goal I have set as a writer is to not come out and say what I am trying
to write, but to instead let the writing speak for itself. As a student, I have always really
just tried to be straightforward in my assignments, projects, essays, etc. to get the point
across. But, I have found it harder to not flat out say what you are trying to say and
instead to bury it and let the writing speak for itself. The literacy narrative is my most
important work in this class because I got to chose the topic, say what I am literate in, but
then also all the while saying something deeper than just that: communicating has made
me a stronger person overall. And has made me realize that the best way to deal with
anyone that may be belittling you is to shrug your shoulders, push your hair back, put a
smile on and just deal with it.
I have found several strengths and weaknesses in my writing throughout this
class. As for weaknesses in my writing I tend to make a lot of grammatical errors and
sometimes I do not elaborate enough on what I am saying for the reader to understand
fully. Grammatical errors are quite common and I found that obviously peer editing
helped with this issue and of course myself re reading it more than just once or twice.
Elaboration on some of my writings were an issue in my EIP most of all. I went into the
science and biology of the brain when talking about schizophrenia within my essay about
the correlation between schizophrenia and genius. I did not elaborate or explain enough
some terms that were quite crucial to understand some experiments that I referred to such
as dopamine levels and neurocognitive. I do find this to still be a problem with many
assignments I work on that may not even pertain to this particular class, BUT I am
working on it! This class really helped me to improve my writing over all. It made me
reflect on my own writing as well as being able to identify the problems within them.
I found that my biggest strengths are writing with a purpose and having a deeper
meaning behind my writing. I feel as though I have always been skilled at writing with a
purpose because I have always enjoyed writing. Although, this semester I believe that
this class has helped me to write papers, blogs, Daybooks, freewrites, etc. with deeper
purposes behind the actual writing. As I mentioned earlier, I was not always that good at
not coming out and saying what I was writing. I would usually just come out and say
what my point was. However, now I leave the concept unsaid and instead let the readers
wait till the end or try and find the deeper meaning. I have always believed that writing is
better that way. When I dont come out and say exactly what the point is and the reader
really has to think about it it then leaves the concept open to interpretation. I think that is
my favorite part about writing too, is that it is all-open to your interpretation and it can
have so many different meaning. I dont want to ruin that for any of my readers ever so I
try to leave the deeper meaning hidden. I have also found that I am much better at
identifying deeper meanings in writing now in some of the readings that we were
assigned.
My progress as a thinker/questioner/writer in this class was quite impressive, even
to me. I think that I sometimes read my own papers or assignments and just automatically
think it is good. If I answered the question and did as directed then I think its great
writing. But, after being in this class my perspective on my own writing and skills have
changed. I can now think more deeply about a topic before I write it because now I find
that it really matters. For my topic proposal I originally wrote one on running. I am an
avid runner and running obviously matters to me. However, I found that I did not
personally have much to say about it. I loved to run but didnt have enough to say about
it. My second topic proposal I decided to rewrite was on my topic now, which was
schizophrenia and genius. I found that like when I am writing a freewrite in my Daybook
my pencil just flew all over the paper. I had so much to say, so many questions, and
overall interest in the topic. Maybe it was because I already know so much about running
that I thought I couldnt write about it, or who knows, but writing about the correlation
between schizophrenia and genius fascinated me and was very enjoyable to write about
and research. My writing, my questioning, and my thinking have developed in this class.
I have become a stronger overall student in this class because I have faced assignments
that I have struggled to write with, identified my weaknesses, and also my strengths.
I need to address a very prominent assignment in this class: the Eportfolio. I took
the EIP draft Iw rote and then the edited and peer reviewed new and improved final EIP
and was able to morph and combine all of my assignments into one! The Eportfolio
consists of all the assignments, papers, blogs, Daybook entries, freewrites, and essays that
I have written in this class. At first, I was slapping myself in the forehead after hearing
that we had to create a website because I have the worst luck with the Internet sometimes.
But, it was actually very enjoyable. It is like making a scrapbook of all of your memories,
but it is of all of your hard work from the class. I am not going to lie it was frustrating
and very difficult, but once you get the hang of it, it is pretty enjoyable. I just completed
my Eportfolio and I was excited. It looks pretty amazing! I thought out very carefully
eery page that had to be added. I even tried to keep it fun by throwing you in there too
(you are on the letter to professor page featuring me as well!) I even sent my dad the link
to the site because he is a teacher and I know hed appreciate it too, all the while giving
me some more feedback on any suggestions or mistakes that I may have overseen.
Honestly, the Eportfolio looks pretty badass and I hope you enjoy looking through mine.
I would like to leave on a good note with you Professor Campbell. As you said
earlier I know you may think everyone is going to write a letter saying how your class
was awesome, how all the assignments were so fun, and kiss your ass. But, I dont think I
did. I am honest. I said I really did enjoy most of the assignments because I did. I enjoy
writing. I admitted to thinking that some of the assignments, namely the annotated
bibliography, was frustrating, but hey not everything in class is going to be super fun
right? I just would like to say thank you. I think that this class is really fun all the while
incorporating educational and helpful guidance for writing. This class made me a
stronger writer and student and for that I am thankful.
I really hope you have an amazing semester next year. And lets be honest no
matter how many times you may say you want to stop teaching and just be a writer again,
you will never stop because you love it too much! And besides what other interesting
species would you write about if you cant talk about us crazy college students?