REFLECTIVE LETTER

English being my second language, I've always struggled on understanding an essay and writing an essay. Coming from a small island, our school standards are very low and not once did we ever learn and write an essay. Beginning of my High School year, my family and I moved here for better education. With this doing so, it was a great transit for me especially in all of my classes. After years of hard work I became to understand how to write an essay, what's in an essay (thesis, introduction, body, and conclusion), and what's the point of writing an essay. After graduating from high school, I took a year off and went back home (Palau). With this long term off of school, my knowledge on writing a good essay started to fade away. I am now attending summer classes at Highline Community College and taking Writing 101.

With little knowledge stuck in my head, I was introduced to a whole new way of writing an essay and it is the “They Say, I Say” method. With this new concept introduced to me, I had a difficult time balancing and showing evidence and support on my “They Say and I say.” For example, in my essay “Personal Space,” most of what I wrote was “They Say” instead of a mix of “They Say, I Say.” For instance, I always start a new paragraph with “According to the Silicon Valley Blogger in Frugality, Real Estate, there are many advantages to living in a small home,” and, “Writing in the BBC NEWS/MAGAZINE, Sean Coughlan writes that...” With the “They Say” new to me, I get so focused on it I forget about my own voice (“I Say“).

Another struggle that I’ve always come across is grammar and self-confidence. English not being my native tongue, my sentences tend to be very simple. And due to lack of self-confidence, it holds me down from being open minded and afraid to write freely. Lack of self-confidence on my work makes me afraid that the readers won’t get what I’m writing. With this, I tend to over write. For example, “Everyday life a person associates with either family members, friends, or co-workers and in some cases all of them, but there comes a point in life where a person needs to have his or her own personal space to reflect on his or her well being.” Instead of writing it short and simple, I over write and it can get confusing to the readers.


Besides my weaknesses, I also have some strengths. One of my strengths is that instead of following other students on writing on the same view of the topic, I chose a different view which is eye catching to the readers. For example, on our Essay number 2, our instructor assigned our main topic to be about home and human rights. Most of the other students were focusing on criminals and how they should be punished and what not. Oppose to that, I chose a different route and went with “False Accusations.” With my view different from everybody else it definitely got their attention. It was something different for them to read. Another strength that I have come to obtain is to show examples that support my arguments about “False Accusations.” Couple examples that I used to support my arguments and got the readers hooked are: Michael Jackson and man imprisoned even though DNA proved they were innocent. With my essay different than theirs, it opened up their eyes to a different side of the view.


During this summer quarter I have come to learn many different ways and style on writing an essay. I have also come to realize a lot of my weaknesses and as I move forth to the next level of writing, I will improve my writing skills. And as I move to a higher level of writing, I will bring with me the knowledge that I have learned in this class to help my writing be more concise and effective.