Ordonez

Ramses Ordonez
English 115
Professor Lawson
12 December 2014
Portfolio Reflection Essay
Word Count: 693
My First Sixteen Weeks
I came into California State University Northridge with what I believe to be a fairly
above average writing style and discipline. Some of the material that was taught throughout the
semester such as, MLA formatting, how to create a thesis, reflective essays, and research essays,
I already knew how to write about and follow through with. However, I learned new material as
well such as the concepts of Pop Culture, which was what this particular English 115 class
revolved around. My online portfolio consists of a blue rose border, and four different tabs
consisting of this reflection of the class, two other essays, and a blog that I updated weekly
throughout my first sixteen weeks at a university. Im sure my portfolio will be able to portray
the difficulties and struggles I endured in this class as well as what I have learned and achieved
through my written works.
Throughout these sixteen weeks, I have used the same basic writing process. As time
went by, I improved on my consistency and vocabulary as a writer. For every essay that needed
to be completed in the class, I started the essay two or three days before the essay was actually
due. I work best when under a limited time constraint and throughout my high school experience,
I have found that this method may be the best work environment for me. However, I have also
learned, time and time again, that this particular way of doings things is far more stressful than

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being consistent. In this Pop Culture English 115 class, I have finally realized the importance of
consistency. The assignments were spread out and the work was equally distributed. In the
essays where I worked at a constant rate rather than waiting until the last minute, I felt more
relaxed and I felt as if I was a better writer. In my research essay and my analytical essay, I
researched and found the information I needed a few weeks beforehand in order to compensate
for my writing process. I know my limitations but I feel that it is time to change.
There are many uses for improving essay writing and research analysis. Whether it be
writing a letter to a professor or a personal essay for another university, the art of writing will
never cease in a persons life. My major is computer science and I firmly believe that I will need
to improve and apply my writing skills in order to progress my education. My research essay was
actually based on computer science, specifically artificial intelligence. Not only was I
progressing my writing skills but I was also informing myself about other branches of computer
science. Persuasive research essays are used to prove a point and back up an argument through
layers of information and analysis. In future classes I will enter, such as Physics and other
computer science classes, I firmly believe I will need to provide a sound argument and support
my stance with sufficient evidence and research. The topics learned in English do not stop being
applied in the class, but rather should be applied to all aspects of ones career.
Overall, I feel that despite me not learning particularly new, I have improved on many
aspects of myself. I improved on writing essays, such as polishing my flow or connection
between sentences. I also found a new perspective on Pop Culture. Pop Culture is all around us
and is far more interesting than I deemed it to be. I loved writing about not wanting to be a
model minority in the United States and how unfair it is for Asian Americans in terms of
competition within education and work. I feel as if I have found something enjoyable to write

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about and also something to improve on. I will leave this class with a new understanding and a
goal in mind. I want to become a more consistent and disciplined writer as well as having more
perspectives on an argument or proposals. Thank you for listening on my struggles, my
accomplishments, and my aspirations conceived during my first sixteen weeks of being in a
university.