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Lauren Perez

Professor Nelson

ENGL 1302

1 December 2021

Final Reflection Essay

When revising the three essays, all three are entirely different because they have

their genres and prompts. The one I had to really think and maneuver around was the first

essay. The first essay was based on a personal experiment yet had other scholarly

research papers to make connections. I had to work around essay one because I had read

the prompt completely wrong, which threw me way behind. Unfortunately, I couldn't do

much research and did not have much time because the due date for the final draft was

near. Therefore, making it one of my least favorite due to my mistake. When revising

essay two, I also had to maneuver around it because there were a lot of errors that I had

not noticed when I had submitted it. The common mistake mainly evolved around lacking

topic sentences, sentence structure, and not connecting my main ideas. Since it was my

first time writing a rhetorical analysis research essay, it was bound not to be organized

and structured as I preferred it to be. Although it was interesting and exciting to write

because I could choose a topic, I was interested in reading scholars' research papers from

all perspectives. I chose gender fluidity as a topic for essay two because I wanted to

educate myself through the findings of other scholars' data by also educating the readers

through synthesizing and paraphrasing data. Revising essay three was my favorite to fix.

While revising essay three, it still catches me off guard because I would have never

thought of writing an essay to fill the gaps between parental support in the LGBTQ
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youth. I am glad that it came out because I believe it is essential to shine a light on what a

parent faces, not only going after the thought that they are homophobic. Although

sometimes that can be the case in some scenarios, we have to look deeper into their

mindset. For example, shown in essay three, "regardless of having a fixed mindset on

what their child disclosed to them about sexual orientation and trying to comprehend, it is

more complex for a parent to adapt to change" (Perez 4). Implying that when it comes to

change for parents, it is viewed as a difficult task rather than just a decision to accept, or

reject their child, when making these choices on what to write for my last three essays

ties in with when I was younger. Mainly because I can relate to all three themes, and for

me to present myself in some aspects through the research of other scholars' was

something I found the most exciting. In a way, this opened my eyes to new perspectives I

was blind to see. Therefore, I am glad I seized the opportunity to educate myself and be

biased to all opposing sides, which was the most challenging because I only needed to

stick to one topic.

Even though writing the last three essays was a challenge because I was new to this

concept of writing, I think it is essential to show the progress a writer has made

throughout a semester. Because even though the first essay may not always be the

greatest, the portfolio showcases the progression on how the first essay is compared to

the second essay and then compared to the final paper. I organized my portfolio by

setting up one folder on just the first two drafts, then setting up the following folder, the

final draft with the reflection essay and the last revision essay. After I have those folders

set up, the following folders consist of the feedback, homework, and other things that

have helped me in each paper. I also color-coded each folder to show where you can see
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the connections to other essays. For example, all essay drafts are blue, and final/revisions

are purple. I mainly had them color-coded for the organization when I was structuring the

essay. I also have regular pages to divide the different papers, and it also includes what to

expect to see within the section.

What helped create my organization and structure for the portfolio were the

homework assignments our professor assigned us and some clips from YouTube to give a

visual presentation on using specific websites to create a portfolio. For example, one of

the professor's homework assignments was based on portfolios and their purpose. Which

is made to "represent how a writer's progress has been made by showing weaknesses,

strengths, and what they have learned" (Perez 1), which helped me better understand

what to do for the portfolio and how to create one. However, there are some choices a

student can make when creating a portfolio on Weebly or a google presentation by

formatting the way a student wants to. What also benefited from making certain decisions

was viewing different student examples or asking our peers for help. What satisfied me in

creating a portfolio in Weebly was viewing the video called "Weebly Tutorial for

Beginners" along with the questions assigned with it. The questions benefited me on how

to create a domain meant for building a website either by transferring, connecting, or

creating one also meant for publishing a portfolio. Another source that helped me

develop my portfolio was also going off the Portfolio Cheat Sheet the professor had put

up, which was beneficial. Because it gave a clear path on what the professor was

excepting, yet the freedom of how we could organize the way we wanted.

This class has given me skills that I can use in other classes, or even in the career

path I want to take, which I know will consist of material like this. I could also apply
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these skills to the psychology classes I will be enrolled in for school. Therefore I am glad

that I get criticism on my essays and drafts because I know it will benefit me to become a

better writer. Although, the majority of these skills I have learned throughout the course

do not apply to other classes. For example, I am enrolled in some biology classes. Their

formatting in writing papers is based on APA, so it's completely different from what I

have been doing since English 1301. Another example where I will not be able to use

these skills is math courses. Even though you write in math courses, they usually use

APA format, generally based on a student explaining a math problem.

Regardless of taking my skills in other courses, I still can improve as a writer,

which I have seen throughout this semester. At first, I am typically rusty at writing

papers, but this course's proper guidance, revisions, and attentive learning have benefitted

me way more than I expected. Although I have been having a reoccurring weakness in

writing, I tend to type as I am speaking, which is grammatically incorrect. Another

disadvantage that I came across is that I lacked topic sentences in almost every paragraph

in Essay two. I was not making them connect, which was shown repeatedly in essay two

as I was revising my writing. However, the weaknesses are demonstrated in the draft, but

my strengths as a writer have grown so much. Compared to how my first and last essay

looks, I have progressed into an excellent overall writer. My structure, organization,

sentence structure, and controlling my ideas from not being overwhelming have

improved (Perez 1). At first, I struggled with that, but gradually, I started to work on my

weaknesses by making fewer mistakes. Which eventually helped me improve in those

gray areas, and what also helped me make essay three was the help of the previous

essays, essays one and two. Essay one taught me how to structure and organize an essay,
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and essay two taught me how to analyze research papers from scholars to the best of my

ability.

Building this website was probably the most challenging because I had never

created a portfolio before, and even when I had to create one for the course, my professor

did not tell us how to do it, which most likely did not care how it was made. I also have

not used Weebly before, and there are two different kinds of websites even though they

are under the same name, which confused me because they are both the same name, but

the style in the portfolios was different, so that's why it threw me off. Despite it being

something I am not used to, it was fun to create because I was able to present my

progress during the semester, and it was also fun creating the portfolio.

Since the website, Weebly, was new and trying to find a way to organize it in the

order our professor expected us to have, it was not easy. Even though the document the

professor gave us, "Portfolio Cheat Sheet," told us how to format a section, trying to

make the layout look nice and organized was pretty challenging; the least difficult aspect

of creating the portfolio was putting everything together. Once I knew how to structure

the portfolio by sections and color-coding them, it became easier to navigate. Revising

and putting everything together was not as challenging as I was excepting it was because

I thought the majority of us had to start over. Still, in reality, we can mainly focus on the

final draft by editing what the professor said. On the other end, the most difficult trying to

receive was the ACE forms when I had to go to writer workshops on Saturdays, and I was

not able to get the forms to show that I had gone to workshops, so hopefully, I do not get

points off. Overall, creating the portfolio was not as challenging as I thought.
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After taking this class, I am genuinely proud of myself of much I have come from

the beginning to now. This class has challenged me in ways I did not know the thing I

would be challenged, and that's what made it enjoyable throughout the semester.

Especially being introduced to new things like argumentative essays, analyzing papers,

etc., was an eye-opener because knowing that I am capable of making an excellent

structured essay has shown me how much I have progressed throughout the semester.

This class did help me develop new skills and different ways of critical thinking on

approaching an essay based on whichever the genre is. The same thing goes for the

homework as well. The assignments that the professor has assigned benefitted me in the

long run without even realizing it.

Along with the writer's workshop and peer-reviews we did as a class. The help

with the assignments and peer reviews have benefited me throughout the semester in my

writing. I started the semester off with a mindset of not giving my full one percent

because I knew what to do from my English 1301 class, but it caught me off guard as

soon as I started doing essay one. I did not realize how much time and effort I would

need to put into it. Then gradually, as I progressed to the following essay, I shifted into a

more active role as a student by paying attention in class, homework, office hours, etc.,

and that's what made me a better writer. Even though I still have my essays, I see

improvement in each one, which tells me that I am on the right path. If it wasn’t for this

class, and the professor patience with me as a developing writer really did make an

impact on how I structure my essays. Even when I leave the course I am still going to be

carrying these skills and knowing through writing circumstances.

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Works Cited

Perez, Lauren. “The Gap of Parental Support for LGBTQ Youth.” 16 Nov. 2021. ENGL 1302,

Texas A&M International University, student paper

Perez, Lauren. “Questions (nov. 16) on Assembling Writing Portfolios.” 16 Nov. 2021. ENGL

1302, Texas A&M International University, student assignment

Perez, Lauren. “Weebly Tutorial for Beginners” Questions (nov. 16).” 16 Nov. 2021. ENGL

1302, Texas A&M International University, student assignment

Perez, Lauren. “Reflection Essay.” 16 Nov. 2021. ENGL 1302, Texas A&M International

University, student paper