Final Reflection

Aaron Tejada

ENG 201

Professor Matyakubova

5/22/20

        Final Exam/Reflection

An interesting fact you do not know about me is that I am a readmitted student. I entered John Jay in 2017, supposed to be graduating class of 2021, but after my first semester life took a turn. I became pretty distracted with work because of things going on at home, and I did not prioritize school my second semester as much as I did my first semester, and ended up failing 4/5 of my classes and you can basically say I dropped out. My first semester was pretty hard because I was working 40 hours a week while being a full time student. I had previously taken English 101 with Professor Vint, I’m not sure if she is still in the school, but thanks to her my writing at the time  had reached new heights, she helped me expand my use of research and how to input it into my work. In high school I was a pretty good writer, the final paper I had written which was basically for John Jay was the best paper in my graduating class, posted on the bulletin board and other places in the school because of my way to describe my story, I made you feel the emotion.

My return to school this semester was pretty interesting, but I however feel like I did not really learn as much as I wanted to mainly because of the COVID-19 crisis. It felt like it was my first semester again, re-learning everything I had already learned, so I did not really get to see much growth, but I definitely noticed I was back into my old habits. I am proud I came back to be honest, and that I am actually doing good in most of my classes, so that would be my biggest improvement. However, I did learn new things in English 201 when compared with 101, the class is definitely more challenging but it makes it more fun. For example, writing a memorandum and a journal entry once again. I was reintroduced to research papers and argumentative papers as well. I also learned how to identify ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos, and also how to use it myself in my work.

I have grown as a researcher in my career, getting to know more and more everyday. My final paper and presentation had to deal with crime, I’m a criminal justice major, so having to research that topic helped me expand the knowledge I had already learned. I still have a long way to go before I step foot into my career, but learning all I can is the best thing I can do at the moment. I have also grown as a speaker, I did not really participate often in my English 101 class, but in this class I participated much more, and I’m proud of that as well because I would feel shy and for some reason this semester it did not feel that way. When it came to my final papers, I struggled because I had a long time without writing 10 page papers, but once I had enough information on the topic I was writing about it became easier. Even though this semester did not turn out how I wanted it to, I have to at least be pleased with the result. I hope to continue expanding my knowledge through my remaining years in college.