This was my first semester in college in the United States. I was a transfer student from the Dominican Republic. When I first met the counselor to choose the spring classes, I was scared that I had to take English 101. I thought it would be complicated, annoying, and full of literature. However, that idea changed from the moment Professor Oliva Wood introduced herself and explained the syllabus. Therefore, I read the activities and assignments to be completed throughout the semester, and my learning expectations increased.

Everything was new to me. The teaching process, the use of technology, the class dynamics, and the language were indeed a challenge. Nevertheless, the teacher was very supportive and helpful in achieving my goal. She helped me to be confident in myself and in what I wrote, to be reflective, and more critical when I expressed my ideas. Thank you, Professor Olivia.

What did I learn from ENG 101?

The question should be: What did not learn from ENG 101? I believe that you cannot measure the level of learning with a number; it is demonstrated when you use it in all aspects of your life. That’s what I’m doing with everything I learned in this class. I learned the most about rhetoric devices: bandwagon, namecalling, fear, humor, testimonial, romance, gender, sex, cognitive biases, euphemism, transfer, scarcity, fake news, and patriotism. Each one of them is part of our daily life. It is incredible to see how propaganda uses rhetorical devices to convince the audience to do or not do something. Whenever I see advertisements, news, or articles, I wonder what rhetorical device they are using? What is the audience they are trying to convince? How reliable is that source?

Another topic of great importance, which helped me with my final proposal, was Weapons of Math Destruction. I understood how algorithms are used to make decisions in our lives, for example, when we apply for a credit card, for a job, credit score, inclusive, algorithms are used in the criminal justice system to determine the person’s freedom.

How have I achieved the ENG101 objectives?

I learned to explore and develop my ideas, meaningful, complex, and logical way. I can provide more details on my papers. Also, I improved how to write more secondary ideas in the same paragraph.

I learned to identify concepts and issues in my writing and analytically talk and write about them. For example, my first paper, “This I No Longer Believe,” was a perfect assignment to learn about myself, my weaknesses as a writer, and how I presented my ideas. I learned that every writer has a different style; consequently, I have to respect their work and mine. 

I learned methods of composing, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. One of my favorite reading was “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott. With that reading, I learned that the first draft is not elegant or well structured. Before, I wanted to write everything entirely in the first draft, but now I write only my main ideas without style. Then in the subsequent drafts, I shape my paper.

Finally, I learned how to research at John Jay Library and website. Also, I was informed that Wikipedia was not a useful resource for academic papers. I learned to evaluate research sources, integrate research to support their ideas, and cite sources appropriately with APA style.