I was a Cambridge GCE (General Certificate Education) student in high-school, and I had a science background. English 110 (Freshman Composition) is my first English course in three years, after the one I had back in O Level. GCE O Level English language (1123) consists of two compulsory papers – unit 1 and unit 2. Unit 1 involves writing, both creative and directed. Unit 2 involves reading that mainly focuses on passage comprehension. The creative writing part of unit 1 allows students to choose an essay prompt from 5 different ones based on their writing strengths and weaknesses. I used to write narrative essays mostly since my high-school English teacher frequently told me they are my strengths and they are what I should focus on for CIE (Cambridge International Examination). Thus, my exploration of the art of writing, analyzing different genres, and comprehending rhetorical features and strategies didn’t go too far back then. But I was successful in securing an A in O Level English. Although I didn’t take any English course later in high-school (A Level), I have been intimately connected with reading and writing since they have always been my hobbies. Hence, walking into English 110, I had a blissful excitement about the following semester. I was told I should expect the grading contract to be stringent – when I started envisioning myself being robbed of sleep working on a pile of assignments every few days. Somehow it didn’t scare me, although there were times when I did stay up late at nights reviewing my works. It was solely because of anxiety since overwhelming assignments were seldom a part of the semester. The professor also gave us time whenever we needed it to complete our works even if they were past due. As the semester approaches an end, it’s a pleasant experience to reflect on the skills the course has allowed me to acquire as a writer.

English 110 consists of four phases of relatively different lengths. For each of phases 1-3, we did 1-2 grand assignments followed by lots of brainstorming and discussions – WLLN, SLLN, rhetorical analysis, and researched essay. Phase 4 was all about a digital portfolio and a self-assessment essay, which are this WordPress site and this essay. Each of the 1-3 phases was a meaningful opportunity to bring betterment in myself in a unique way. The final one was nothing less than a quick, perfect ride down the beautiful and strengthening lane called Freshman Composition to take a glimpse at what we did. Only a few days into the course, I embraced the genial, supportive, and understanding nature of my professor, Brenna Crowe, my amazing peers, and the congenial class environment that drew me towards bolstered self-confidence and made me believe there’s not much to worry about with these truly amiable people who wouldn’t judge me for any of my weaknesses or mistakes. The course could go even better in-person – the workshops would heighten the collaboration, everything could be done in a shorter time, we would have time for more effective discussions, and the technical issues wouldn’t be an obstacle if the classes were not remote. In fact, internet or technical difficulties were not a problem at all because the recordings of the lectures were provided in no time after the classes. I try not to complain too much about anything since even a little progress is a big deal during a global pandemic.

The slightest improvement in one’s writing and language can be a noteworthy change, which was proved as early as during phase 1 when my brother mentioned, “You already write better than before,” after reading the final draft of my WLLN (Written Language and Literacy Narrative) – one of the grand, final assignments of the phase followed by weeks of preparations and prolonged dedication. The other one was SLLN (Spoken Language and Literacy Narrative). I can recall how phase 1 was replete with uncertainties for me. As a matter of thought, probably the uncertainties were one of the main reasons I was emboldened to make my way into betterment. Being an international student, I have seldom worked intensively in concurrence with people from different cultures until now. There were times during the earliest days of the semester when I felt a little inferior compared to my peers while and after going through their works on the discussion board. While working on the WLLN, I discerned how limited my experiences with language are compared to theirs. As a result, I kept comparing the decorum of my essay to theirs. But I eventually concluded in realization that what matters more than the content is how well I express my thoughts about my very own unique experiences with language and literacy. The WLLN assignment not only had me look into the language experiences of my classmates, but also into my own more than ever. I spent some considerable amount of time making notes of what my essay should include and in what order. I am thankful for the greatly helpful workshops through which I developed new ideas for my essay. The idea of including a poem from my own collection in my WLLN was instilled in me by one of my classmates. One the other hand, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the SLLN until the day before the presentation – I wasn’t well prepared. I wrote a poem. Although writing poems has been my thing for the past two years, that particular one failed to meet my contentment. But I proceeded with it anyway. At first, I was just going to make a video of myself reciting it. But I ended up making a video with background music, subtitles, and a single photo of me as the backdrop. I received good comments on the video after the pre-recorded in-class presentation from my classmates as well as the professor, but I am still not sure that those were for the poem too and not only for the video production. Even though the professor said she liked the poem, I am still a bit skeptical about it. The skepticism probably came hand-in-hand with my dissatisfaction. The two assignments and the whole phase helped me to “Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes” and “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users, and be open to communicating across different cultures.” The rhetorical situation worksheets on personal essays by scholarly authors and a Ted talk video that kept me awake late at nights reading and reviewing them and wondering if they are good enough and the in-class workshops impacted me most significantly during the first phase. I used to be super nervous before turning in my papers and quite relieved after the workshops. Analyzing rhetorical situations was quite a dynamic experience. By exploring and perusing through a number of genres and rhetorical terms, I learned to develop strategies that I could use in my essays. My growth as a writer during this phase was also promoted greatly by the critical reading both during the semester and in the past.

Phase 2 was the shortest of all. It focused on the critical analysis of one particular reading material, and I chose one of the optional readings that our professor provided us. I had already read the essay when phase 2 was introduced in class and found it quite enjoyable. During the in-class workshop of the summaries of the essays we were about to analyze, my classmates commented that mine was very much in accordance with the important points in the academic summary handout, and it was quite motivating for me. I started to decide on which rhetorical devices to work on for my rhetorical analysis essay quite early in the process, although I spent long hours over disarrayed annotations and schemes. The sole reason behind spending that great amount of time on the analysis is the fact that I had never done it before. Hence, it wasn’t a cakewalk for me as it probably was for some of my classmates. I filled up the brainstorm worksheet before proceeding to the main work, but I am hardly ever enthusiastic about brainstorming when I have to do it. I enjoy putting my ideas together in my own way and that’s what I mostly did for the rhetorical analysis essay, despite not eluding the brainstorm worksheet in any way. Sticking to it did pay off given it made me come up with 2-3 important rhetorical features. I Googled expert tips for writing a near perfect essay, though there were appeals I kept struggling a little with. My previous experiences with reading helped me to give a poetic tone to the essay in some parts and include metaphors. The rhetorical analysis mainly allowed me to “Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations” as well as “Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms when engaged in writing situations.” I was also inspired to focus on what the author was trying to do both explicitly and implicitly, and what she did consciously or unconsciously. I must give credits to my professor and classmates for their helpful feedback and meaningful suggestions, for I learned almost half the things during classes and workshops.

Did I make a momentous transition from not looking forward to something to totally loving it in English 110? Yes. Phase 3 was all about researched papers. When the fact that we were soon to write one was revealed to us, the first thing that cropped up in my mind was that I should work on some area that would be beneficial not only for my audience, but for me as well. We were free to investigate any theme that emerged from our introduction to language politics. We could also investigate a topic of our liking if we truly wanted to even if it wasn’t a part of our discussions as long as it was controversial or debatable. I am very much thankful for the freedom to choose our prompts since mine was insightful regarding a lot of facts that I should savvy but was yet to be familiar with, although I didn’t involve all of them in my essay to avoid disorderliness and confusion. My topic was really broad, so I had to decide on the specific areas I wanted to research and write about – those that were best suited for my intended audience and for me as well. We had to use scholarly, non-scholarly, and multimedia sources for our research. Phase 3 allowed me to “Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timelines, and bias,” “Compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation,” and “Practice systematic application of citation conventions.” I was particularly weak in citing sources. But, with the help from my professor and class lectures, I managed to overcome my weakness. The researched paper was the only big assignment that I wasn’t too nervous about, probably because it was mostly based on facts I collected and inferred from my sources. Unfortunately, due to some personal emergencies, I had to skip the workshop on the researched essay. I may have missed on certain improvements that my peers would have suggested was I able to attend the class. Yet I want to thank my professor for her feedback and all the help. Without her clear explanations, patience, and understanding the extent to which I learned would never be the same.

The journal assignments gave a fun touch to the course. I have been writing and storing journals about day to day experiences since I was in 5^th grade as a hobby. But while staying at home during lockdown, there was barely anything new to write in those diaries until English 110 commenced. Hence, the idea of journal assignments occurred to be quite amazing to me, although it wasn’t something I expected to be in the course. Each one gave a new thing to write about every week. One of the prompts even turned out to be helpful for my researched essay. Amidst the formality of so many other assignments, they have been a way to not give my hobby away entirely during the semester.

These amazing three phases taught me to explore myself, my capabilities, and to embrace my own past experiences up to a significant level so my writing during the course could be images of my truest self where they needed to be. The assignments enabled me to go far looking for ways to express my thoughts in the best possible way. Though a lot of students like me are craving in-person classes, I am really grateful even for the online classes I could take this semester given that I am an international student still without an F-1 student visa and unable to travel to the States. One of the best features of English 110 for me is the fact that the course doesn’t include tests or final exams. This is partly because I have anxiety disorders and exam fevers never allow me any respite. Besides, I could give my best on the assignments and during classes with complete freedom without the fear of being judged or possible consequences even after I made mistakes. It’s still hard to believe how fast the semester went by. I hope the English courses I will be taking in the future will have an environment just as positive and motivating as that of English 110 with the much needed freedom, especially for international students like me.