Dear Lou,

My name is Michael Carlone and I am from Westfield, New Jersey. A lot of people

confuse my name with Michael Corleone, the mobster Al Pacino plays in the Godfather. I can

assure that I have no ties to the mob, even though my father grew up in the same neighborhood

as some notorious mobsters. The most frequently asked question I have received since coming to

the University of Alabama is, “what made you come all the way down here”. Everytime I just

reply that it is too cold in New Jersey. Other reasons would include that I am a big college

football fan and I have always rooted for Alabama. I also wanted to go far enough from home so

I can see what it’s like to be on my own. The main reason I am here is to study in the accounting

and finance field. This is the first step for me to move on and pursue an MBA.

I don't really like to write that much. I do have a lot of experience as I have been writing

in school for as long as I can remember. I do have some strong points in my writing. I feel that I

am good at beginning my papers and getting the reader interested while laying the foundation for

the rest of my paper. Also, I am pretty good at blending my quotes. I feel that over the past few

years I have focused on improving my quote blending and I have succeeded. Lastly, I feel that I

am good at keeping a decent structure to my writing.

Of course with strengths, there are also weaknesses to my writing. I feel that I am not

great with using transitional sentences. Sometimes I feel like they feel forced or I just forget to

use them in general. Also, my closing sentences to paragraphs can definitely improve.

Sometimes it feels like I don’t close the paragraph or the conclusion doesn’t really do a good job

of wrapping up the paragraph. Another weakness of my writing skills would be my ability to

write about myself. When I write about myself, I feel that it starts to get a little repetitive.

Sometimes I am not sure what to write because I feel that some things might come out a little
arrogant. I feel that this happens because it is in writing and the reader might not hear it in the

tone I was trying to express it in.

I do have several goals regarding my writing coming into this year. This semester, I hope

to improve on most of my weaknesses. I would like to get better at concluding my paragraphs. I

feel that a good conclusion sentence would make the paragraph feel a little more whole. I will try

to improve on this by learning some new techniques and strategies on how to write a good

closing sentence and practice them. I also want to improve on correctly using transitional phrases

and words. I will look at examples of them in other people’s writing and try to see how and when

they use them. After that I hope to learn enough about how to use them so I can incorporate it in

my writing.

All the best,

Michael Carlone