Dwight Kruse
Dr. C. Jason Smith
Eng 101 T-Th 10:30am
10 June 2014
Reflection
When I began this semester, I had no idea what I was
getting myself into. As a writer, I had to re-learn everything I knew since it
has been almost ten years since I went to school. When the topic of fast food
was introduced into my English 101 class, my attention was focused into it. I
remember reading Eric Schlosser's book, Fast
Food Nation, in the subway on the very first day of class and did not put
the book down until I was at the station near my apartment. Fast food has
always been a large part of my life. My first job in New York City was in KFC
and now I still work for the restaurant industry as a bartender. In my culture,
eating fast food is where families came together to enjoy quality time as well
as a sign of status that only the middle and higher class families had the
privilege to enjoy. I have always been interested in where our food comes from
and how America receives it's seemingly endless supply of food. Surprisingly, I
learned a lot about where our food comes from and fast food's history. What I learned
from reading Fast Food Nation has helped me make better food
choices from work and my everyday life. Knowing a little bit more about what I
eat on a daily basis and where it comes from has helped me become a better
person. I now make better choices for myself when I used to indulge on fast
food all the time.
I started off as a weak writer and more
opinionated than anything. I would make grammar mistakes on a regular basis and
would have to frequently check my work. Failing the argument mid-term paper was
a turning point in my life. It made me realize how weak of a writer I was and
how much I could not focus on everything as a whole in a paper, but easily
distracted I would become off of one subject. I was nervous since it was my
first mid-term in college but reading it after I failed; I saw how weak I was
and how much I needed to improve. I started reading what I put on
the blogs and started doing more revisions to make myself a better writer. I
would change certain words that would not fit and reading sentences out loud to
make whatever I write flow naturally. I focused more on transitions, because I
would find myself repeating a lot of what I had already written. I basically
had to rebuild myself as well as my confidence in writing. I promised myself to
get better at writing by the time the semester was over and would take in what
I learned into my research essay.
When it was time to start my research
essay I chose organic food as a main topic, because after reading Eric
Schlosser's book, I felt a little bit insecure about what I had eaten in the
past years. It made me over-analyze everything in the grocery stores and I
figured I would use my energy to focus more on a better alternative. I was also
curious as to what I would find and I am so glad I chose it. In my mind, I was
able to differentiate conventional and organic food as two worlds and make a
comparison. It gave me a boost about where I was going to go and more
confidence behind my writing. As a research writer, there would be many things I
would change since this was my very first research essay. I did not even know
how to make a citation page. As a total learning experience, this class built
my foundation for my future ahead. I will take what I learn here into my future
nursing career and beyond. I am forever grateful for this opportunity to take
what I learned here and continue to build my confidence even more for the years
to come.
DRAFT: When I began this semester, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. As a writer, I had to re-learn everything I knew since it has been almost ten years since I went to school. The topic of fast food that was introduced into my English 101 class and that took my interest in the very beginning. I remember reading Eric Schlosser's book, Fast Food Nation, in the subway on the very first day of class and did not put the book down until I was at the station near my apartment. Fast food has always been a large part of my life. My first job in New York City was in KFC and now I still work for the restaurant industry as a bartender. In my culture, eating fast food is where families came together to enjoy quality time as well as a sign of status that only the middle and higher class families had the privilege to enjoy. I have always been interested in where our food comes from and how America receives it's seemingly endless supply of food. Surprisingly, I learned a lot about where our food comes from and fast food's history. What I learned from reading Fast Food Nation has helped me make better food choices from work and my everyday life. Knowing a little bit more about what I eat on a daily basis and where it comes from has helped me become a better person, because I now make better choices for myself when I used to indulge on fast food all the time.
I started off as a weak writer and more opinionated than anything. I would make grammar mistakes on a regular basis and would have to frequently check my work. Failing the argument mid-term paper was a turning point in my life. It made me realize how weak of a writer I was and how much I could not focus on everything as a whole in a paper, but easily distracted I would become off of one subject. I was nervous since it was my first mid term in college but reading it after, I saw how weak I was and how much I needed to improve. I started reading what I put on the blogs and started doing more revisions to make myself a better writer. I would change certain words that would not fit and reading sentences out loud to make whatever I wrote smoother. I focused more on transitions, because I would find myself repeating a lot of what I had already written. I basically had to rebuild myself as well as my confidence in writing. I promised myself to get better at writing by the time the semester was over and would take in what I learned into my research essay.
When It was time to start my research essay I chose organic food as a main topic, because after reading Eric Schlosser's book, I felt a little bit insecure about what I had eaten in the past years. It made me over analyze everything in the grocery stores and I figured I would use my energy to focus more on a better alternative. I was also curious as to what I would find and I am so glad I chose it. In my mind, I was able to differentiate conventional and organic food as two worlds and make a comparison. It gave me a boost about where I was going to go and more confidence behind my writing. As a research writer, there would be many things I would change since this was my very first research essay. I did not even know how to make a citation page. As a total learning experience, this class built my foundation for my future ahead. I will take what I learn here into the future career and beyond and I am forever grateful for this opportunity to take what I learned here and continue to build my confidence even more.
