Reinheimer 1

Stephanie Reinheimer

Professor Jennifer Rodrick

4 December 2017

English 115

English 115 Reflection

Because of the high school I attended, I already felt confident in my writing capabilities.

The high school I went to is an International Baccalaureate school, which is an honors program

that challenges the students who partake in it through essays, creative projects, and leadership

opportunities. It is through this program, in which I gained a certificate in philosophy and

English for passing the IB exam, and flourished in my education.

In reading this, I hope that whoever is the reader does not think that I am prestigious in a

condescending sense. The IB Program is the reason why I intrinsically value education as much

as I do. And I am majoring in English and pursuing to be a teacher because of the way the IB

teachers influenced me. I feel the need to explain my academic background because in all

honesty, English 115 was a huge step down from what I was used to. I often found myself bored

during the PowerPoint presentations because I learned what a quote sandwich was, and a good

thesis was my freshman year of high school. I was also often frustrated. I love to read. I love to

read anything, and everything assigned because it broadens my knowledge and I love class

discussions. However, in many cases, a majority of the class did not read, or people would come

to me asking what the reading was about. Thus, the class discussions commonly left me

disappointed, or if it was good, when I spoke I felt a sting of embarrassment because I feel as

though I took over the room with my opinion.

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Even though I had these frustrations, I try to still look on the bright side, or put things

into perspective. English 115 is a GE course with a mix of freshmen with various majors and

aspirations. I still read and appreciated enjoyable readings- Another City being my favorite. And

when we did peer reviews and I had such positive comments on my papers, it ended my day on a

good note. I am aware that many of my essays were not written to there full potential. It was

difficult to be motivated for a class that was such a step down from what I was used to, so I often

prioritized the work for English 115 last. I did not do horrible on my essays, but because of my

lack of motivation and desire to execute them well, they were not as good as they could have

been.

I hope in the future, I will not feel this way about any class, and if I do, I hope that I will

try harder on assignments and reach my full potential. English 115 is not the only GE course I

could feel this way about, so I will anticipate these feelings in the future and do my work better if

I do have them regarding another class. I am excited for spring semester though, because my IB

English Exam permitted me to skip an English course, so I will be taking a higher level English

course next year, along with a couple of honors classes. If I do have trouble in the future

regarding writing, I know that the LRC offers assistance. Prior to English 115, I did not know

what an annotated bibliography is, and the presentation in the library helped me not only learn

how to do that, but also learn about all the resources the library has.

Despite my frustrations and annoyances, I did learn a few things in English 115. Overall,

I feel pretty indifferent about the class, but I appreciate Jennifers enthusiasm to teach us because

it made the class enjoyable in the end.