Zane Berry
Joseph Longhany
ENC 1102-0M13
24 April 2017
Course Reflection
Discipline from last semester guided me
through this semester. I finally understood that play video games were an
instant gratification compared to completing an assignment and achieving a high
grade on said assignment. That type of gratification lasts for as long as you
remember it. Frequently, this long-term gratification builds on itself into a
collection of self-approval that can be utilized as discipline for the future
in a cycle. The cycle allows me to continually work hard because I know the
reward now and I know the reward grows simultaneously as the quality of the
assignment grows. I built this cycle of discipline early on which carried me
through the semester.
Adversity throughout this semester motivated
me in this class. It first occurred early on when searching for my particular
niche. One of my flaws, indecisiveness, hit me at a crossroads when the topic I
was researching split into two equally viable and sound directions. I was
motivated to get the assignment done, however, this indecisiveness froze me in
place. For guidance, I sought out my professor and he gave me some rough
answers such as “you’re going to have to make a choice.” In all honestly, I was
too scared to take any path and he gave me the tough answers I needed to hear. Other
times later in the semester, when I was not sure how to improve my paper even
further, I consulted the University Writing Center also. Often times, they
helped play with my word and sentence structure, molding my incoherent
sentences into coherent ones. Lastly, adversity confronted me through
psychological methods. My mind would play tricks on me and convince me that my
writing was not good enough and so I kept getting down on myself. However,
after a good long break and some thinking, I would get back to the paper,
realize how great it is and go to work. A mix of hard work and free time allows
me to work through my problems.
Rather than only receiving a good grade,
I was rewarded with valuable skills as well. I can analyze and dissect an
author’s argument for key facts and write critically about the author. At its
core, this is critical thinking. Last semester, I could’ve said I can
critically analyze anything. Now I truly understand what critical thinking
means. Due to its universality, critical thinking is only a jumping off point
for even greater abilities. For example, writing into different situations will
aid me for delivering papers for different contexts and rhetorical situations.
In particular, I can write meaningful examinations of literature and synthesize
those complex texts into a cogent argument of my own. Besides the pure ability,
this course has offered me a work ethic like no other. I believed I worked hard
last semester, but this semester I worked until my mind blanked out for this
class. Overall, this class had many positive implications and outcomes for my
life that I will apply from work, all the way to my social groups.
