Blog 14: What I've Learned

         I have to admit that I wasn’t sure if I was going to take this course when I first started the school year. Because I had taken AP English in high school, my first-year writing requirement was already fulfilled—it didn’t seem like a process I needed to repeat. My experience in Writing this semester, however, has been a lot different than the ones I had in high school. My dad is the one who convinced to take a writing class my first year at BYU, and I’m so glad he did, because I have learned so much over the past couple of months.

         I learned that preparation really does pay off. One of my favorite parts of this course was that we had deadlines for prewriting and rough drafts for every major paper. I have a difficult time starting on assignments early, and so these requirements gave me the opportunity to spread out the workload and manage my time more efficiently. I realized that I could write a lot better if I just sat down and wrote a rough draft first, put it away for a while, and then went back and revised it. Hopefully now I can use that knowledge to do better on writing assignments in my future classes.

         Another important piece of information I gained from this course is that it’s always best to get a second opinion. When I was in high school, my mom would read over my papers and give me a few tips here and there, but they were mostly minor editing changes (she tended to be a comma Nazi). While participating in peer reviews and tutoring sessions at the writing center this semester, however, I learned to take advice about altering my papers on a larger scale. No one, especially me, can write a perfect piece on the first try, so it’s really important to be open to new ideas and suggestions—even if they involve turning the whole project upside down.

         I’ve had such a great time in Writing 150 this past semester—watching YouTube videos, having great discussions, and learning how to better my writing and rhetoric. Now I just hope I can implement the things I have learned from this class into all the other areas of my life.