Coming into Dr. Helms course I thought of myself as a pretty good writer. I always got good grades on my essays throughout high school and so I felt well prepared for his course. Writing essays was never my favorite thing to do; however, I was always able to get something on paper that seemed passionate even though it wasn’t.
Dr. Helms and the way that he structured his class changed my mind on how I feel about writing. This class has pushed me to put more thought and effort into my writing than I ever have before. I have written very detailed or tough essays before but I never had to put much of my own thought behind it. For the essays in this course I had to not only come up with my own argument based off of how I felt about the topic, but I also had to find research that backed up my op view point. In doing this my skills of researching specific topics to find resources that back up my argument has improved greatly. Along with that my ability to find research that somewhat relates to my topic and adapt it to work in my favor has also improved. I feel that this has formed me into a much stronger writer who can tell a deeper and more entertaining story.
What this class has also helped me with is how to correctly incorporate the research I have done into my writing. Specifically I have learned which ways to put the research into my writing at certain points to solidify my opinions. All of this put together I feel like it has made my work more true to myself and what I am opinionated or passionate about in the topic I am writing.
Dr. Helms has really made me not only work for my grades on my essays in this course but he has also made me want to work for a good grade. He has really made me enjoy my writing much more than I ever have with the freedom he gave us as students to put our own spin on all of the topics he gave us.
As this course comes to a close I feel much more prepared to write any essays I am tasked with in my future courses here at Alabama. Along with helping me with the rest of my time here at the University I also feel like this class has helped me to be well prepared for anything I will have to write in my career. I will be an officer in the U.S. Army which means I will most likely be doing my fair share of paperwork and writing letters to people. Also, I will most likely have to write application essays to get into training schools or while applying for other jobs as an officer. With what I have learned in this class and the confidence I have gained in voicing myself I my writing I feel well-prepared for anything that I will have to write in the future.
EN 102 ePortfolio 