Reflection Draft - This Semester

            Before I signed up for this course in the first place, I knew it would be one of the most challenging classes that I had ever taken thus far in my life.  Although I was scared being a high school student in a college course, I tried my hardest hoping that my hard work would compare, and be good enough to compare, to the work being turned in by the college students.  My initial goals at the beginning of the semester were to become a better writer and experience some college courses and understand the expectations in these high level courses before I continue on my college education in a larger environment.

            I accomplished both of these goals.  I have enjoyed the experience that I have had while taking this course.  I truly believe that taking this course has prepared me for more college courses in the future.  I have learned how to communicate with college professors and peers taking the same course.  Although I plan on attending a larger four-year college, I believe that this course has prepared me for the challenges I will face in many college courses.  Along with understanding how to communicate and carry myself in a college course, I have understood and begun becoming a better writer.  I have learned how to edit and reword my essays to sound more professional.  Researching was also a major component of what I learned how to do correctly and accurately this semester. 

            During the research process I learned how to correctly study a specific topic.  Just using Google may not help to find the best and most correct information possible.  I learned how to use a database in order to find more credible sources.  Before I began the research process, I did not know that that using a database would help specify and find scholarly articles for the exact topic I needed to find.    

The research process came pretty naturally to me.  I am a very curious person and being told to find more information about a specific topic was intriguing to me.  I found it much more beneficial using a database to locate information rather than just doing a regular Google search.

The parts of my paper that I believed will be liked the best by my instructor are the facts that I found through my research and the interview I used from my friend.  I think that the facts and statistics that I found truly support my thesis statement made at the beginning of my paper.  I also think that the story that I received from my interview added a nice little touch so that the readers of my paper could visualize one of the many different outcomes within a family.  I carefully wrote, adjusted, and rewrote each part of my paper many times to make it exactly what I wanted to say.  My audience for this paper is the rising generation especially, but to the society within the United States overall.  My purpose was to ultimately raise people’s awareness of what could eventually happen in society because of marriage and family.  I worked very hard and long on this paper and I believe that my argument is sound, the facts found support my thesis, and the way that I wrote and discussed the information is very professional and well written.   

I am not very advanced when it comes to being technologically versed, but through the course of this semester I have learned how to convert my paper from a Mac to a Windows computer.  I have also gotten better with my typing speed and my understanding about how computers work in general.

One of the most useful hints I have found useful while taking this class has been understanding the true meaning behind creating a thesis.  When writing a thesis you have to state your “freaking point” to your reader, and understanding this helped me when I began writing any papers.  This course has ultimately been very beneficial for me and I am glad that I had the opportunity to take it while I am still in high school. 

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Written By - Kelsey Robison