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William Mancia
Professor Batty
English 101
30 May 2019
Tools for Success
Throughout my life I’ve preserved through many obstacles that as a result have brought
to light many things I didn’t know about myself. Reading, writing and critical thinking have
always been a challenge due to the fact that I’ve never understood the meticulous process that
each one of these requires in order to excel in them. Going into any English class I’ve always
been complacent with the bare minimum, but through the completion of this course I was able to
master these skills and I am now able to apply these in any and every class throughout my
academic journey which I now look forward to.
Critical thinking was by far the hardest thing for me to do, I personally believe it is one of
the most important things in life. After reading a text I would miss points that were blind to the
eye like when I read Still Water Saints, I’ve realized that looking at the bigger picture and
thinking outside the box is essential, at times it may even be easier than it seems, such as
identifying connections with real world issues. For instance, in completing my first essay about a
challenge certain college student face, I had to conduct extensive hours of research in order to
write a paper that was overall cohesive. This assignment involved an enormous amount of
critical thinking, besides the research part I had to pick a certain demographic of college students
and then I had to pick a specific challenge. This for me was a tremendous challenge because
often times I was always handed the materials needed for an assignment, but this time It relied all
on me. It helped me step out of my comfort zone and really use my brain. I look to further
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develop on this skill set because I know there’s a lot more room for improvement, I believe that
my major which is Nursing requires sharp and the spot critical thinking when dealing with
patients because in certain situations their lives might even depend on me.
I’ve always enjoyed writing, but I always struggled in being able to write my thoughts
down on paper in a cohesive manner. Upon completing both essays required in this class I
realized that it’s almost impossible to write a perfect first draft, it requires tons of revision and
editing in order to achieve an essay of good quality. Following the proper steps of the writing
process has been engraved in me and I now know that it’s absolutely necessary in order to give
out the best product possible. I still struggle in applying proper MLA format and punctuation, but
I know that its improved tremendously over the last couple of months. Writing is important in
just about every class, and I can confidently say that this class has helped me in completing
essays in other classes because I’ve applied the three-story thesis which I learned upon taking
this course. I’ve even realized that my vocabulary is now more enhanced thanks to all the writing
that is required of me which I am thankful for because I aspire to be as professional as possible.
I can honestly say that reading is amongst the things I try to avoid the most, my short
attention span doesn’t seem to help with that as well. Upon reading Still Water Saints I realized
that it’s not as bad as it seems, the fact that the book wasn’t very hard to read was actually very
beneficial because it had my attention the whole time. After completing this assignment I’ve read
two more books on my free time and to be honest I actually enjoyed it, the thing I struggle with
the most is comprehending more advanced literature, but just like many other things it will
require tons of practice which I’m willing to do. I know that once I enter my higher division
classes I will be exposed to a lot more reading, but one important technique that I’ve refined is
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annotating through my reading journal, which I will use not only as an undergrad but even in my
career in order to comprehend concepts that are difficult and or important.
Overall this course was very beneficial and I learned things that I know for a fact I will
benefit from later on down the road. Reading, writing and critical thinking are not only essential
in an English course or any other college course, but also in any profession and just about
anything I do on a day to day. Although I’ve learned a lot, I know that there is still room for
improvement which I have no problem with. As a Nursing major I know that there is a lot that is
required of me and this class has been a stepping stone as its taught me to take on challenging
assignments without fear.
