Jogging Down Memory Lane

When it comes to my high school writing experience, it was the best times and it was the worst of times. For starters, I attended two different high schools. Each had their own curriculum and different writing strategies projected for their students. The first high school I attended was Belleville East, there I learned to check and double check and even triple check for grammar and spelling errors and conjunctions. I also learned to cite everything!! Even when you think you have cited it all, go ahead and cite again, just because you love doing it. Although I hated this part of my writing experience, it has caused me to be more cautious with my assignments before I turn them in.

The second high school I attended was O'Fallon Township High School. Hands down this was my favorite high school. Besides being a senior, having no uniform, and graduating early, I made amazing connections with my teachers and took away great lessons and skills to use throughout life. Believe it or not, my favorite teacher was my English teacher. Mrs. Morrison was beyond amazing! She was zany and fun, but meant business. I learned different styles of writing, different types of research, and different approaches to my audience. While Belleville East may have structured my writing abilities, O'Fallon perfected them and gave me the confidence to be creative in my writing. My most valuable lesson was "learning to speak as if I was a political speaker but being as creative as a magazine editor," quoted by Mrs. Morrison herself.

What I would like to improve on are my research skills, word variation, and citation skills. Though I have adopted each of these skills, as I ascend the academic ladder and go into the education field, I find it important to perfect them. I do believe that within this course I can accomplish these goals and more. First viewing the name of the course, "Advanced Strategies In Rhetoric And Research," I feared that maybe I had enrolled in the wrong course. However, after viewing the syllabus and meeting my professor, I feel ecstatic about this semester. What I expect from this course is aid in my writing ability, polishing the good writing habits I have, and discarding the bad.

First arriving to college I was worried about receiving writing assignments that were due in short amounts of time ranging from 10-25 pages. However I have not encountered any writing assignments of that magnitude or that were due short notice. To be candid, my college experience has left me speechless. I can honestly say I am having the time of my life. Besides the parties and late nights, homework has not dreadful, my professors have been top notch, my friends are coasting along with me, my boyfriend provides comic relief, and I have family supporting me through this journey. I look forward to the next two years at Saint Louis University and cannot wait to see what this one holds. Hope you guys are as pumped as I am!