Shah 1 Aashish Shah Midterm Blog Post Ms. Ingram Section 1101-049 Due: October 4th, 2013 1.

In my first blog post, I mentioned a lot of questions that I had regarding the course, the

type of writing that we would be doing, as well as finding out general information about collegiate writing. Looking back on that first blog post, one of the main questions that I had was learning about the different types of writing that college students do. I was so inquisitive because in high school I was so used to writing in a formulaic manner, so when given the freedom to write anything, I didn't know how to approach it. Being in college for about a month now, I have learned a lot of different types of writing. These include journals, research papers, and analyzing scientific journals. I have also been able to expand on the type of writing I was already familiar with before college, such as narratives, summaries, and primary source documents. My hopes are that as the semester progresses, I can continue to expand my knowledge of writing while having fun, and of course becoming a better writer. 2. Having been a college student for about a month and half now, there are a lot of things

that I have learned both the hard and easy way. In reference to the second central question, I would say that there are a lot of differences between high school competency and college success. First, I have learned that the work ethic and perseverance that you had in high school to do well, does not really correlate in college. With so many distractions, not having your parents around, and having so much to do, it is quite easy to lose your focus. This is why you have to stay focused on your academics and strive for excellence. It is for this exact reason, that high school competency is not a predecessor for college success, because the stakes are different and the

Shah 2 situations that you will put yourself in will determine if you end up on top, or sink to the bottom. College success is idealized behind having a set goal and sticking to it no matter what. One must work hard in order to see results, and these results in college are long term and shape your future. In high schools, the priorities and goals of students are so short-lived because everyone can get through high school and go to a decent college or university. In college however, not everyone can make it, get a job, and make money to support their family. Overall this is what I think are the main differences between being competent in high school and being successful in college. 3. Although college is known for being the best four years of your life, it can also be a tough

transition for a lot of high school students. The work load is a lot more, the atmosphere is different, and for some kids the freedom can get to the worst of them. For me personally, so far college has been great. I've been able to stay on top of all of my assignments, and at the same time have a little fun as well. If I could suggest one thing to a high school student getting ready for college it would have to be to make sure that you are on your A game from day one. Try to get your assignments done early, and prioritize what's important so that you are not rushing to meet deadlines. I would also recommend trying to get involved into clubs, inter-mural sports, and getting to know the diversity of the students at your campus. It is with these words of wisdom that you will breeze through your classes, but experience the college life as well. Overall college is the best years of your life, but you as a student have to know what's important; otherwise college can be a nightmare! 4. A lot of the key concepts that are mentioned in the syllabus are ones that I abide to or

have developed through the course of this class. One of the key concepts that I see myself applying the most to everyday would have to be taking responsibility for one's learning. From going to my professor's office hours, to going to tutoring I try to make it my best interest to get to

Shah 3 know my professor's and take initiative for my own learning. I strongly believe that when one takes responsibility for learning, they are more prone to be successful and they began to understand what it takes to do well in their classes. Without taking responsibility and putting an effort towards education, you will see no results, and when youre spending thousands of dollars for an education, it is quite the price to pay when you are getting nowhere. I hope that as the semester progresses and the college experience begins to unfold, I can continue to get to know my professor's and strive for the ultimate goal that I have which is to become an industrial pharmacist. 5. So far in our English class a lot of the trends have been continuous from those

experienced in college. The one trend that I would have to say that is challenging for me would have to be risk taking. The reason being that in high school, especially in a writing context, we were always told how to write, and scripted to follow a rubric. We were told that if we wrote astray from the rubric that we would be penalized and our grade would be affected. This is probably why I never took risks because I was always frightened that my grade would suffer, and that was something that I could not afford. I also feel like I did not take risks in my writing because I did not know how to write random things about random topics with it making sense. As this course continues, this is a skill that I want to work on. I want to develop a new persona, and I want to digress from always writing in an academic setting, and more in a free verse kind of setting. I know that this will be hard at first, but I am confident that if I work with it and visit the writing center when I'm struggling, this skill will become more like a habit. I am excited to see how taking risks will broaden my views on a lot of topics and make me a better writer for the writing that I have due in the near future. 6. So far in my responses to questions one through five, there are a lot of repeating trends in

Shah 4 my answers. In most of my answers I am comparing my experience in high school versus those so far in college. This concept is one of the main themes in this course and it fascinates me how there is so much relation between high school and college. The issues aforementioned relate to each other because all of us in this class are freshman and English 1101 serves as a gateway course that allows us to grasp the basics of writing, most of which we already know, and expand our knowledge to become better writers. What we learned in high school is always going to be ingrained in the back of our minds, therefore it is important to realize this, and develop the skills needed to surpass the past methods and develop new methods. I think the relationship between high school and college and its relationship to this course really will help us become better individuals academically, but most importantly it will allow us to expand our thoughts a way of expression in a different way... a less binding way with no strings attached. 7. Since our course, English 1101 is a writing intensive course, one thing that I think would

be pretty cool to inquire about is learning about the different types of genres that exist globally. Since diversity and cultural competency is important to being a well-rounded person, learning about different cultures and being exposed to new languages and new scenes is something that I would really like to do. If we could incorporate that into our curriculum while still analyzing the main themes and concepts that English 1101 are supposed to cover, the class will be even more exciting than it already is! In reference to the material that we have covered in class, I would really like to brush up on the mechanics of writing (grammar and punctuation) and learn how to better incorporate dialogue in my writing, as I noticed that this was something that you suggested in my literacy narrative. Overall, I think that this first half of the semester has been great and I look forward to what the rest of the semester has in store!!!