Venus (Paulette Marie Gautreau)

Professor Russell

ENG 110

December 3rd, 2025

  Final Reflection

Throughout this semester, I have achieved a lot in this class. The things that I have learned have allowed me to grow not only as a writer, but as a student as well, meaning that what I have learned here will help me in the long run.

Within this semester, I was able to learn how to locate reliable sources to utilize for a research paper. This is due to our synthesis essay unit. Going to the library and having the librarian teach us how to use the CCNY online library to search for and locate articles, books, etc, for us to use for college-level research papers. It was incredibly helpful for me because I felt very stuck in trying to figure out how exactly to get my information, so it was a really great learning experience. 

Within this semester, I was able to learn how to turn a personal writing piece into a new, more expressive form. This is due to our translation project in our Language and Literacy Narrative unit. When I was creating my narrative, I put my personality into it, but in the translation project, I was able to put so much of myself into the project. I learned to enhance what was written into a video form, captivating audiences, while simultaneously being authentic in my work. It taught me to become more creative, which ends up coming in use not only in class, but outside of class as well.

During my first semester, I developed my ability to write about my own personal experience. This is due to our written narrative for our Language and Literacy Narrative unit. When creating my narrative, I just assumed I had to use academic writing at first, and not put much of my true self into it, cause I just assumed, “It’s a college paper, isn’t it? So I should be professional.” I ended up being completely wrong since this unit encouraged us all to be honest with our writing, in terms of how we actually write. None of the forced academic writing standards. This led me to honestly express myself in my narrative, showcasing more of who I truly am, instead of that false academic persona, which ends up drawing more audiences, because who wants to read a boring old paper that sounds just like everyone else’s? Examples of this include, “ I didn’t care about how long the story was; I just wanted to read it and find out what happens next ASAP”,  “her light blue eyes lighting up, smiling at me, and telling me ‘good job’ a comment I NEVER used to get during ELA lessons” This has lead to me learning how to be more authentic with the way I sound when I’m writing, a skill which I have utilized in my other classes (when it allows for it of course).

During my first semester, I was able to better learn and understand how to write more academically as a college student. Since coming to college for my first semester ever, I have quickly begun to realize that research papers in high school, in comparison to research papers in college, are actually quite different. In high school, the standard was lower, less strict; we often ended up writing less, and when citing our sources, we often could just copy and paste a link at the end of the paper, and everything would be perfectly fine. Of course, it’s quite different in college; the standards are often much higher, more strict, we often end up writing more than we did in high school, and we unfortunately have to use MLA formatting… which, if you couldn’t tell, I’m not particularly fond of. Thankfully, writing the synthesis essay made me more comfortable with these new changes, teaching me how to write more, use more academic language, become more organized in my writing, and how to properly cite in MLA format. According to my synthesis essay, “When curricula devalue the way someone speaks, a person’s language, it devalues them as a human. In the book Performing Literacy by Rebecca Rodgers and Melissa Mosley Wetzel, it discuss how, from as early as Pre-K to high-school level assessments, speakers of AAVE are time and time again judged as being less capable, a judgment which often mirrors racial hierarchies within our society.” 

Therefore, from this first semester, I have learned so much. I have learned how to find and utilize reliable sources for research papers, how to turn a personal writing piece into a new expressive form, I have developed my ability to write on personal experiences, and I have learned how to write more academically. These skills are useful not only for my present, but my future.