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Damian Pangelinan

Mrs. Hooks

ERWC

22 April 2019

Reflection Essay

My Most Proud Assignment

The assignment I am most proud of is the “Veteran Treatment in America” presentation I

did freshmen year. This presentation is an extension of an essay I had to write while

collaborating with two other classmates. The main idea of the presentation was to be able to

explain your chosen controversial topic effectively using Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. I vividly

remember skyping til approximately 2 a.m. with my team to finish the project because the

criteria to get an “A” was strict and difficult to apply to “Veteran Affairs and Treatment.” The

hardest aspect of this presentation was having to argue for both sides of Veteran Affairs and

having to look for concrete, reliable evidence. This itself was an issue because the three of us

were unable to seek evidence that argued against veteran treatment, or the unpopular opinion.

The amount of effort I had to put into the presentation was extraordinary for my standards as a

freshman because I had to remember my portion of the presentation and present it to the class for

a grade. Furthermore, the assignment was completed in a span of two weeks while having to do

spring football practice. Despite the obstacles faced, we were able to finish the presentation after

looking at over 30 different sources of evidence. Not only was this one of the more difficult

presentations I have done over the years but one of the most rewarding in the sense I got a good

grade out of it.

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Growth in Categories

While looking at Infinite Campus, I have stayed consistent in each category of instruction

over the last four years. As a freshmen, I started off with a B+ but continued getting A’s

afterwards. Specific categories that I have seen myself grown in especially is in organization and

my use of evidence. When rewriting my essay on the “Representation of Women,” not only was

my organization really simplistic if not messy to an extent, my evidence was not integrated well

into my sentences. Yet after heavily editing it, most of my sentences flowed smoothly and the

evidence was integrated so it didn’t sound awkward. So overall, my essay’s tone sounded more

sophisticated and the sentences themselves were more complex. Being aware I have grown in

these categories specifically is real moral booster for me. English has always been the rougher

subject for me because a lot of it is knowing how to interpret different literature and

manipulating it to fit one’s ideas and thoughts. So having the ability to do choose my evidence

and organize my thoughts in such a way to convey my reasons is a good skill I learned

throughout high school.

Needed Improvement

Categories that I still see opportunity for growth as far as I’ve noticed are my

commentary and vocabulary in general. I will continue to grow in these areas after graduation by

reading more books in college to start off. The biggest opportunity I find for improvement will

be to analyze more literature in college. To improve my commentary, I have to learn to

understand the meaning of various texts better. To be able to do this, the most viable option for

me is to practice more in my opinion. It will be useful for me to be able to make connections

against the text and real life events for instance or the text with older, more classical literature.
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Thus, I believe the only way to combat this weakness of mine is to practice more with making

connections. I also noticed my repetitiveness in my commentary and in my syntax in general.

This isn’t bad necessarily but too much repetition can not make my writing sound educated. To

fix such repetition and syntax, I would perhaps benefit from relearning the basics of the English

language because if I am able to identify specifically what I am doing wrong, then I will have

much ease fixing it. Overall, these sections in my high school English courses gave me issues

throughout the years but they are problems that I am competent enough to solve.

The Next Step

GOHS has prepared me tremendously for “the next step.” The next step referring to my

admission to San Diego State University. Throughout high school (including Morse High School

and Chaparral High School) I have been faced with many academic and extracurricular obstacles

that have challenged my social skills and studying abilities overall. These challenges range from

AP classes to moving schools and houses when I had to focus on keeping my academics up

while personal matters interfere. I have developed a rather incredible work ethic and time

management skills allowing me to be effective when planning out my schedule for not only the

day but for the week. This aspect is seen in my tremendous and constant high grades I have

produced for the last 4 years. Along with that, I was able to find time to juggle working at Olive

Garden, sports, and volunteering at wineries, elementary schools, and at the beaches in San

Diego. Thanks to the variety of classes and sports offered, I was able to settle on Kinesiology as

my choice of study in college. I participated in many sports throughout high school and taken

Kinesiology classes for two years exposing me to a lot of physical therapy/athletic training

concepts. Sports that include football, track and field, and rugby. Truly grateful for the
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opportunity to go further my education and I have to thank my high schools for guiding and

preparing me for this next step.