My journey as a writer
The day I stepped foot into this FWS class I felt insecure. I did not think I would be able to reach the level of my American peers as an international student, and feared not being able to keep up with the writing expectations. I remember my first biggest struggle was discussing and developing my ideas thoroughly. In my first-one page essay I mentioned a lot of stimuli but did not take the time to develop my thoughts clearly and concisely. In high school I was used to sticking to an outline and would make sure to include every single detail on it in my essays. It was hard for me to break off of that habit and decide for myself what felt important to mention and develop.
During that journey I realized that one of my major setbacks was my habit of playing “dress up” with my words. I was so focused on writing a formal essay that I would forget how to write like myself. Throughout this semester I’ve learned that it is better to focus on simplicity and conciseness. My need to sound more sophisticated made my essay superficial instead of personal and intimate. Therefore, I needed to focus on exploring my own style and making my writing a reflection of myself. In order to do that I decided to explore the stimuli, response, and how/why cycle more deeply.
I began by feeling comfortable with writing in the first person. It was helpful to question myself about my reactions to certain events and the small details of my everyday routine. I was able to connect with myself on a deeper level and, with the help of freewriting, began to draw connections to moments and details in this semester that made me feel or react a certain type of way.
This process also showed me that I struggle a lot with SCVA, a new concept I learned – I’m sure there are many examples of it in this essay. It was shocking to realize that I make this mistake so often since I hadn’t been taught about it in highschool and had never given much thought to it before joining this class. While I have studied the presentation on it and have worked to correct my many mistakes, SCVA will be something I’ll continue to struggle with but which I hope to improve on and one day rarely have it be an issue.
As I reach the end of the semester I can assure you that my first fears are no longer there. Although I have a lot to work on as a writer, I do feel like I was able to hold my own and prove to myself that I could keep up in what seemed to be a scary and hard class. I am glad I stayed in this class and will use it as the basis for my journey as a better writer.
Digital Portfolio, First Year Writing Seminar 