Gamburian 1

Hambik Gamburian
English 114B
Professor Lawson
Reflection Essay
8 May 2014
Word Count: 1,106
English 114: The Journey a Young Student Embraces in Order To Continue Dreaming and
Achieving
As May of 2013 approached closer and closer, I envisioned what university would be like
for me. On May 30
th
, 2013, I proudly walked the stage, in graduation of high school, of Granada
Hills Charter High School, located in the center of Granada Hills, California. As I took every
step on stage, I pushed to think what my future at California State University, Northridge would
be like. I already knew what I wanted to major in since the beginning of my junior year of high
school, Computer Engineering. Though I had known what I was to be majoring in, and I also
knew what classes I was to take in order to reach my goal, I was nervous upon starting university
due to the fact that everything was going to be new to me and I also did not know what to expect.
Three months later, after graduating high school, I went forth on attending my first class at
CSUN. Being a freshman in the university, I had not known what the classes were going to look
like nor did I know how the professors were going to be like. Upon taking a glance at my
schedule, I saw that my first class of the week was English 114A with Professor Lawson. Many
questions arose, as I thought to myself, will Professor Lawson be a well-rounded teacher,
motivating, and pushing her students to strive for success; will she be fully motivated to teach
her students in the best of her ability; will she explain the subject well? I walked to class, in
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Sierra Hall, with all of these questions floating around in my mind, as this was my absolute first
class in the university. As I set foot inside, my heart pounded, I saw no familiar faces, not a
single person that I knew. I saw the professor, Professor Lawson. It was right then and there,
when she very respectfully and politely presented herself along with the material we were going
to cover to the class, when it became clear that she was an intelligent, awesome, and prestigious
professor after all. All those questions that I had floating around in my mind were very quickly
answered and my worries were all gone. I had an amazing first impression to the university class
structure and lifestyle. My English studies in high school brought me to where I proudly stand
today, in English 114B with Professor Lawson. Although I have learned many English writing
skills in high school, I stand today and the very end of English 114B, having uncovered much
insightful skills, tactics, and knowledge used today by many English professionals; I still have
much knowledge to gain as I progress through my journey at California State University,
Northridge.
My portfolio exhibits many aspects of what I have learned in English 114. For example, I
learned that whenever I am to write an essay about a specific topic or issue, I can easily write a
Fieldwork Report, demonstrating the main points and research of the specific topic. This adds to
the ethnography I completed last semester in English 114A, and the research method is similar to
what I did this semester. Many of the projects we completed as a class are similar to those
completed last semester in English 114A. One difference from last semesters projects and this
semesters, however, is that last semester I did two exercises per project, which prepared me for
the upcoming main essay/project. This semester this was missing, although I learned to do more
research than exercises preparing myself for the essay. Moreover, the Fieldwork Report
completed in Project Space, reassured me that I have my main points for the essay/project. These
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priceless pieces of knowledge learned in this class portray how my portfolio unveils what I have
learned in English 114.
I have learned many new, interesting aspects of my own writing process that I did not
know about before this class. For example, I learned that making a quick and simple exercise
relating to the topic/issue of my essay can help me in many ways to gather my thoughts, facts,
and standpoints for my essay. I also learned that by making an ethnography or a fieldwork report
relating to my issue can assist me in gathering up information and research which I can the use to
analyze my standpoints in my essay. I learned of many new research methods that I had not
known about before. I will incorporate my new pieces of knowledge learned in this class by
simply implementing new research methods and making little exercises relating to the topic that I
might be studying. These priceless pieces of knowledge learned in this class exhibit what I have
learned within my own writing process.
I have learned much about myself as a writer and as a student, as I have learned about
new writing styles and research methods. For example, I have learned to not procrastinate. I do
not leave things to the last minute as much as I used to before. Yes I may still leave things last
minute, but thats only because I am extremely busy. I have learned that by leaving various
assignments to the last minute, I am only hurting myself in the long run. I now pace myself on
not only academic assignments, but on errands too. This class has taught me many things not
only academically as a student, but overall as a human being as well. Next in my writing, I need
to work on pacing myself more and more. These priceless pieces of knowledge learned in this
class display what I have learned about myself as a writer and as a student.
When I first began my classes at California State University, Northridge, I was extremely
nervous, as I did not know what to expect from classes and professors. As I stepped into English
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114A, Professor Lawson changed my viewpoint from nervous all the way to eager to obtain
knowledge. I learned many extremely helpful aspects of research and academic writing these
past two semesters in English 114 with Professor Lawson. Although I have learned many
English writing skills in high school, I stand today and the very end of English 114B, having
uncovered much insightful skills, tactics, and knowledge used today by many English
professionals. I thank Professor Lawson extremely very much for all the insightful knowledge
she has presented me with this past year, but I still have much knowledge to gain as I progress
through my journey at California State University, Northridge.