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VanessaSalinas
ProfessorAdler
STACCEnglish100#72051
16December2015
YouLiveandYouLearn
Writinghasalwaysbeenafulfillingactivityforme,especiallywhenIwouldfinisha
paperIhadworkedextremelyhardon.ReadinginparticularissomethingIdotoescapeandbe
inawholeotherworld.AlthoughIlovetoread,Ihavealwaysfounditdifficultreadingassigned
booksornarratives.Iwouldputthemoffuntilthelastminutewhichwouldleadmetonot
understandthematerialasmuchasIhadliked.Thesamegoeswithwriting.Ilovetowritewhen
IaminspiredorinacreativemoodbutifIhavetowriteaccordinglytoanassignedprompt,I
findmyselfstrugglingwithwritersblock.Whenitcametimetopartakeinacollegelevel
englishclass,IknewthatIhadtoimprovemytrainofthoughtwithassignedpapersand
readings.InSTACCEnglish100,Iwaschallengedtoovercomethesepersonalobstaclesand
evenlearnedwhatittakestowritecollegelevelpapers.Forthisreflection,Ihavedecidedto
reflectonmyfirstthreeessays(InClassEssay#1:EducationalAutobiography&Literacy
NarrativeFacetoFacewithLiteracyandBacavstheWorld)IhavewrittenforSTACC
English100andcomparehowIhaveimproved,whatIlikedanddislikedaboutthem,andwhatI
shouldhavedonedifferently.
Myfirstessaydidnothaveatitleasitwasaninclassessay.However,Iwasassignedto
writeanEducationalAutobiography&LiteracyNarrative.Ihadanentireclasstowriteastory

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aboutmyowneducationalhistoryandreflectonhowithasaffectedmeasawriterthusfar.The
essayrequirementsweretoincludepositiveandnegativeaspectsofmyeducationalcareer
referenceatleastoneclassassignedreadingutilizetheconceptsofgrowthandfixedmindsets
andillustrate,detailandshowmyeducationalexperience.ThiswastheessayIstruggledwiththe
most.ItwasthefirstessayIhadwrittenoutsideofhighschoolandIwasextremelynervous
aboutwritingmyveryfirstcollegepaper.Imadesuretotakeplentyofnoteswhenmyprofessor
wasthoroughlyexplainingtheassignmentandcreatedanoutlineofmyowntohelpmeget
started.Ihaddoneinclasspapersbefore,butthisassignmentforsomereasonmademe
extremelynervoustowrite.AlthoughItriedtoprepareasmuchasIcould,Istillmademistakes
thatIknowIwouldnothavemadeifIdidnotpsychmyselfout.WhenIwrotethisessay,I
thoughtofeverymomentinmyeducationalcareerthathasaffectedmeandmyliteracyabilities.
Althoughthesememoriesseemedtocomeeasytome,Istruggledwithtryingtofindawayto
referenceoneofthenarrativeswehadreadinclassasIdidnotknowhowtorelatethenarratives
tomypersonalstory.PerhapsIwaslookingforaspecificexampleinthenarrativesratherthan
searchingforanreferenceandelaboratingonit.
NotonlydidIstrugglewithreferencestothenarrativesreadinclass,Ialsohadadifficult
timeadequatelyillustratingmyeducationalexperienceandclearlyconnectingmythoughtsso
thattheyflowtogethermoresmoothly.EvenifIdidnotdoasIcouldhave,Iwasreallyhappy
withhowImanagedtogetmyeducationalstoryontopaper.Althoughitwasmyfirstessayand
mypointsdidnotconnectassmoothlyasIhadhoped,IfoundoutwaysIcouldimproveformy
nextessay,FacetoFacewithLiteracy.

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OneproblemIhavealwayshadwithwritingwasusingfigurativelanguage.AlthoughI
dolovewriting,Ifindmyselfnaturallycomfortablewritingwithajournalisticstyle.Inmy
secondpaperforSTACCEnglish100,IwassupposedtorewritemyInClassEssay#1:
EducationalAutobiography&LiteracyNarrative.Thiswasmychancetofurtherexplainand
connectmythoughtsinmyoriginalessayandturnitintosomethingIactuallywouldlovetoget
graded.Inthisessay,Imadesuretowriteallovermyessaypromptwithfurtherdetails
explainedbymyprofessor.Ialsowasabletotakeadvantageofpeerreviewswehadduring
class.IfIhadnotdoneso,Iwouldhaveundoubtedlydonejustasunsatisfactoryasmyfirst
essay.Althoughthisessaywasanimprovementfrommyfirst,Icouldhavedonesomethings
differently.Icouldhavebeenmorespecificoncertainfactssuchaswhyorhowmymoveto
Burbank,CaliforniafromSantaClara,Californiaaffectedmyliteracyskills.Ialsostruggledwith
showing(suchaspaintingapictureformyreaders)certaineventsIdescribedinmyessay,
whichissomethingIhavealwayshadtroublewith.ThesewerebothnewandoldchallengesI
facedwithmywritingsbutIwasabletorelatemypapertoourclassreadingsandactuallywas
veryexcitedaboutthefeedbackIreceivedfrommyprofessor.Ifeltbetteraboutthisessay,
however,Icouldhavedonemoredraftsonthisoneandusedmoreresourcesavailabletometo
helpeditmypaperorseewhatIhaddonewronginmypreviousessay.
Formythirdessay,BacavstheWorld,Iwasassignedtocriticallyanalyzeachapter
fromJimmySantiagoBacasnovel,
APlacetoStand
.Ihadabitoftroublewritingthisessayand
onceagainexperiencedanincredibleamountofwritersblock.IdidnotknowwhatIshould
analyzeandhadtroubledecidinguntilIaskedafewofmyclassmatesfortheirinput.Eventually,

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IwasabletofigureoutwhichwritingstylesBacausedthathaddrewmeinthemostandwent
fromthere.IbelievethatthiswasmybestwritingIhavedoneforthisclassbecauseitwasright
inthemiddleofthesemesterandIwasrightintheswingofthings.Iknewwhatwasexpectedof
meandmanagedtomakeafewcontactsinmyclass.Iactuallyremembermeetingwithafew
classmatesoncampustohelpediteachothersessays.Ialsowasabletobeabitmorefactual
withmywritingsasitwasanheavilyanalyticalpaper.Althoughthiswasoneofmybestwritings
forSTACCEnglish100,Ididhaveaminorstrugglewithstayingontopicinmysecond
paragraph.ThiscouldhavebeenavoidedifIhadactuallyusedaresourcelikethewritingcenter
orevenmeetwithmyprofessor.IfIcouldrewritethisessay,IwouldfurtheranalyzehowBacas
useofshortsentencesgivesreadersaclearerpictureofhowhishardshipsfrombeingabandoned
affectedhim.IwouldalsoutilizemyresourcesatPCC.
IhavemostdefinitelyimprovedmywritingskillsbybeingapartofSTACCEnglish100
andamsogratefultobeapartofthisprogramandclass.withoutitImostlikelywouldnothave
improvedasmuchasIdidandhadahardertimeadjustingtocollege.SpecificareasthatIneed
toworkonnextsemesterareorganizingmythoughtsonpaperandalsowritingmore
figuratively.Iplantousemoreoftheresourcesavailabletomeandwritemoredraftsforallof
mypapersnextsemesterinordertofinallyreceiveanAonanessay.