December 11, 2015

Dear Reader,
I wrote this letter to discuss about the process of my writing when I began my English
113A course for the fall semester. Before taking this class, I was not sure of whether I was
capable of writing multiple essays. In high school, I had written a few essays in English but I felt
that my essays were not good enough due to the teacher never took the students essays
seriously; but now that I am in college everything changed. Now that the fall semester is about to
end, I noticed how I changed as a writer in many ways.
In class, all the students had to write three essays. The first essay was a narrative essay,
the second was the ethnography, and the third was about social media. All of these essays we
were to complete and revise them carefully. As I now reflect on my past assignments, I noticed
how I revised my essays more often than in high school before submitting them. In the past, I
thought revision was a waste a time but it was time to change my bad habits. What helped me
more on revising my essays was going to the Learning Resource Center at CSUN for the first
time. My third essay that I brought to the LRC was my social media essay, the one displayed in
my portfolio. There I met an instructor who helped me revise on my own as he gave me
suggestions on my writing. Although the session was for 30 minutes, we both discussed on
revising the thesis, changing transition sentences, grammar errors, and etc. After the session, I
was able to make the changes that were necessary easily. Other than going to the LRC, I had two
peer review workshops for two essays. The essays that were peer reviewed were the narrative
and social media essay. From both of the workshops, I learned that both of my essays that I
turned in werent as perfect as I thought of. I received many of my classmates feedback and
suggestions to making them stronger. From the workshops, I learned that I have to pay closely

attention before submitting. Sometimes whenever I finish my essays, I would proofread many
times but the little mistakes I wouldnt notice at all. As I move on to my next semester, I plan to
be more involved in my writing by going to the LRC and seeking more help from my professor
next year.
As a writer, I have my strengths and weaknesses that I need to work on. One of my
strengths in writing is having critical thinking skills. I am a person who is reserved and quiet but
I have so many thoughts to share with my audience as I write. Whenever I write about an
experience, I feel like I am painting a picture for my audience. Another strength is using pathos
in my writing. I like how I am able to draw the attention of my readers by creating a connection
from myself with emotion. The only issue is that I need to get better at stating my arguments,
backing it with evidence, using the proper source, and how to properly cite my sources. It is
difficult when I want to make an argument because I know I have to be descriptive, thoughtful,
and believable. In high school, it was rare to receive argumentative essays. I was taught that
using Wikipedia isnt a reliable source but in the end using Google can sometimes not be reliable
as well. It maybe difficult finding a source using CSUNs One Search tool, but the more I
practice, I know it wouldn't be. I still struggle with citing my sources. Whenever I cite my
sources, I feel that I am not confident of doing it correctly. On the other hand, its not late to get
better.
Now that I know how to revise, I plan to be very thoughtful of my work and try to help
others by giving my honest feedback on their paper. With so many weaknesses, I have to use my
strengths to balance my writing. Once I am more balanced, I will take the next step forward to
aim higher. In within a few years, I will look back and see the changes I left permanently on

paper in my freshman year. With that being said, be confident on who you are and never give o
your hopes and dreams. It may take time but in the end its all worth it.
Sincerely,
Leslie Mercado