Dear Jane,

It’s a weird way to start off but I have to thank you. Although I may have not been the best student at coming on time or even coming to school at all I still enjoyed being a part of this class. It wasn’t easy, I came in thinking that this class was going to be easy simply because I knew how to write based on topics but boy was I wrong. This class was not just about writing, it was about investigating the topics we were going to use, using strategies, and finding that creative aspect within ourselves. I have to admit, I don’t think I was really creative in my writing but this class did change my aspect when it comes to writing a paper. Looking back into my past assignments for my past semester compared to now I’m literally just here cringing, like there’s no way I thought that was okay. I would half-ass my papers and include little to no details and call it a day. But instead of dwelling on the past and judging myself, I’m glad to have you be a part of my journey because you truly did change the way I viewed writing overall. Not just you but the partners I had helped as well.

And I feel like we should really hand it to you, because not only did we learn from you but we learned from each other when you made us work as a team. And because of you I had met a new friend, Marquise. When the Op-Ed was due in class, Marquise and I were in the library literally about 10-20 mins late to your class because he was willing to help me organize the way my paper looked, he also taught me how to do a hanging indent for my works cited page. I was literally so thankful because if i handed you my paper with the way it looked before he helped, I would’ve got a bad mark. And I’m also thankful because if you had never teamed us up, I would’ve never gotten help outside of your classroom. 

I’d like to move on to my assignments I have completed for this class. Starting off with the Op-Ed. The Op-Ed was hands down the assignment where I realized that there’s more to writing rather than just talking about a topic. It was about emotions that we felt towards certain situations that revolved around us. I’ve never ever in my life had the option to write a paper about my opinion on any issue that is happening. It was something new to me and I have to admit, my writing wasn’t the best on that essay but to me it was a big step ahead on my writing journey. Why? Because the feedback you had given me really hit me with reality. You had marked basically my whole paper telling me where I made a possible mistake and what I need to fix. For example, I would use a lot of words like “They” and wouldn’t specify who “They” is. I would also jump to one aspect of the topic and then jump to the other right away including little to no details. That was when realization hit me, I had to do better and I felt like I could do better so I used the Visual Essay to show myself that I can do better.

The visual essay got a B- and honestly I was so happy with that grade, others would probably be upset to get a B- but to me that meant a lot. It meant a lot to me because my Op-Ed didn’t do so well. And since it didn’t do well I knew that I could do better in the Visual Essay, and I did. I was so proud of myself. I took the advice you had given me on my Op-Ed and used it in my visual essay. I made sure to do simple designing that related to what i was talking about and it turned out so well. But of course I did make some mistakes such as talking about big topics all at once. I would mention violence, slavery, domestic violence, no wi-fi, and human rights all at once. I maybe should’ve done better by reducing some of the topics and including it into one. But there’s always time to learn and I’m glad I was able to get the feedback you gave me.

Moving on to the critical review I have to say, this was the absolute best paper i’ve written in my opinion. It’s the best because I had fun with it, I got to review a sitcom I’m obsessed with. I mean I’m so obsessed I have plushies and stickers of the south park characters. Besides my obsession, It was nice putting myself in a critic’s shoes and establishing that point of view and embodying it. The assignments I did before that led up to my critical review helped a lot. Reading other works by critics and watching videos in class definitely helped me understand better. While writing this piece I felt confident, confident with what I was writing and my knowledge on the topic.

Lastly, my creative piece. Now with my creative piece it was all about having fun with what I was writing and looking back into my past. Within my creative piece I talk about how clumsy and curious I was growing up and how I basically messed around and found out the consequences. Nothing more and nothing less, it was definitely nice having this be out final assignment.

Overall, I’d like to say that this class had a wonderful impact on me. I’m definitely going to be using strategies that I was able to learn from your feedback within and outside the classroom. Within this portfolio, everything that I’ve mentioned above will be included(Op-Ed,Visual Essay,Critical Review, And Creative Choice) and see my possible improvement in terms of writing. Thank you for this experience.

Sincerely,

Melanie Rodriguez