Madison Pinkney Prof Suzanne Ingram ENG 1001-004 29 July 2013 Portfolio Essay College summer courses are

very different from courses taken during the regular school year in a few ways, although one is emphasized above all the others. Classes are taken over five week periods and are basically crash courses in their subject field. They are not to be taken lightly; they are fast paced and they require heavy concentration and focus. My first year at UNC-Charlotte has allowed me to experience this first hand and has taught me more about myself, my peers and my education than I initially imagined. At the beginning of the semester I sensed that my peers felt overwhelmed by the workload and were easily distracted by things like word counts and essay formats. I found myself sitting in the midst of superficial questions that only required yes or no as answers. I could tell that my peers didnt know how to take flexible directions and meeting of the mind discussions. I could also feel the frustration from my professor; especially on the day she dismissed us due to the lack of energy throughout the room. Looking back on memories like these comforts me because it shows that my classmates and I have grown together. Our discussions have become more fruitful and we have even exchanged reading and note-taking strategies. We respectfully share our opinions and I personally feel that we have grown closer as a group. At the beginning of the semester class discussions were awkward and it seemed that some people were afraid to speak. I

can tell that we have come very far as a class and I feel that this highlights my personal growth as well. Coming into this course I hated editing with a passion. I thought it was pointless, annoying and nit-picky. I felt that raw writing and first drafts were the best ones because they conveyed the authors point just they way they wanted. After reading numerous essays and participating in peer workshops I began to appreciate editing and revision. I remember watching a movie about college students who frequently worked in peer workshops and one professor said, the writing process takes more than one person and it is never fully complete. Ive never thought about writing this way and now that Ive heard this my outlook has been changed. I want my writing to be polished and flow easily throughout the entire paper and sometimes its difficult to achieve that through one, initial draft. This forced me to complete multiple drafts before even thinking that I might be finished with assignments and also helped me become more comfortable reading my writings aloud. Im glad I have become more comfortable with this before the start of the school year because I can already tell how necessary it will be in the future. My final portfolio is comprised of four final drafts of essays that Ive been working on all semester, five blog posts, three items of process work, two pieces of feedback, two articles from my writers notebook and one piece of my choice. Upon visiting my Weebly, guests will first see five tabs all individually labeled a well as pictures of my friends and me from this past semester. The five tabs are labeled: Home, Blog, Midterm, Process Work and Final Drafts. Home and Process Work have subheadings labeled Feedback, Wild Card and Writers Notebook respectively. My E-

Portfolio was customized this way in hopes that it would be entertaining, visually appealing and easy to navigate for visitors. It was really important to me to have pictures on my portfolio because my portfolio is supposed to show growth and in my opinion, so do these pictures. Coming into UTOP and English 1101 I was nervous about my venture into these unknowns. I had no idea what to expect; I didnt know if my teacher or peers would like me and I didnt know if I would have trouble keeping up with the work, only that I had to. I doubted myself before I even stepped foot out of the car and definitely before I stepped into the classroom. I had no idea that five weeks later I would leave UNC-Charlotte with a new perspective, a newfound confidence and a new sense of awareness about the things I could accomplish. I remember looking down at so many assignment sheets and compulsively checking Moodle in hopes that if I kept staring at the words they would begin to make sense. Eventually I realized that this strategy was bogus and that I was missing the point of the exercises. These writing assignments werent meant to be hard, but they were meant to be challenging. They were meant to stretch our thinking outside of our comfort zones and allow us to think in a new way than what we were used to. When I stopped looking at these assignments as arduous and impossible, I began to enjoy them and witness the progress that I was making. Its easy to notice that in every picture visible on my Weebly Im smiling and I look happy. English 1101 had something to do with this. My time at UTOP has not always been easy, but it has been worth it and the same goes for my experience in English 1101. These past five weeks have allowed me to grow more than I have in my entire life as a writer and as a person.

My portfolio means a lot to me because it shows my progress over this short fiveweek period. Each piece of writing within my portfolio shows strength, honesty and growth; all of which have been integral parts of my life and this past semester. Writing, editing and reflecting on these essays have all taught me so much about myself and the world around me. My high school literacy narrative forced me to think outside of my comfort zone while my genre essay allowed me to see things in a new light. My midterm challenged me to expand on my thoughts about questions that I otherwise might not have thought about while this essay is causing me to think back on all of the progress that Ive made. Organizing my process work artifacts made this journey resonate with me more than I thought it could. It was funny to see where I started and where I am now, as far as writing goes. Looking back on all of the markings suggesting commas, word changes or new paragraphs is funny to think about because now I notice bigger things when it comes to editing. I suggest to my peers and to myself that we add more detail and expand on our thoughts and ideas. We need to do more than make essays flow, although this is very important. Readers should feel immersed in the words they see and as though theyve known the writer for a lifetime. It is the job of the writer to include so much detail within their writing that readers cant help but to feel theyve experienced what the writer has or that theyve been where the writer has been. I not only know that my writing has grown from reasons like these, but also from looking back on previous assignments and writings. When I completed the first and even second draft of my high school literacy narrative I thought it was good enough for the assignment and my writing ability. Upon completing peer workshops I realized that I needed to add more detail, but I had no idea how to do so. I was so surprised when I was

able to add an entire paragraph of details, as well as details throughout my narrative. Here is an excerpt from the final draft of my essay: I remember where I was, how I felt and what I thought when I finally had my epiphany. I decided to go to the park to finish my summer reading because there were just too many distractions in my house. I was sitting on a park bench when I finally finished reading and then it all hit me. It felt like the world was moving in slow motion. I just knew that everyone around me could hear how loud my thoughts were but when I looked up everyone was carrying about in their normal routines. Women were bustling by me pushing strollers and trying to figure out their chores for the day and men were jogging by me in hopes of being healthy after forty. I knew that the realization I had just come to was so amazing and profound that the world just had to have stopped right in front of me. I felt that I had discovered something so valuable that people just had to know what was going on in my head. After about five minutes of a silent, mental whirlwind I decided to come back to reality and reflect on what I just read. This paragraph made a huge difference in my essay and is so full of detail that it will help the reader to understand me better. Not only do I feel the reader will be able to better understand me, but I feel they will be able to better relate to me because of this one paragraph. I am truly amazed at what details can do for an essay and for its readers. I feel that ultimately I deserve an A in this course because of the quality of my assignments, my class participation and attitude, as well as the progress Ive made throughout the course. Ive grown as a writer, a student, a peer and a person. Ive learned the importance of taking risks, adding detail and revision all in relation to writing. But whats really surprised me about learning these things in relation to writing has taught me

that they are relatable to life. I feel that I have emphasized key concepts such as critical thinking, risk-taking and independent inquiry in ways that are not only applicable to this English 1101 class, but also to everyday life. Intellectual growth and maturity are as present as ever throughout this essay as well my blog, which I am also very proud of. Although I hope to leave English 1101 with an A on my E-Portfolio and transcript, it is not the most important thing to me because Im leaving with so much more. I am so proud of the person that I am becoming and the growth that I experienced throughout these past five weeks. It has been an amazing experience in and out of the classroom and I am truly glad that I had the chance to be a part of it.