reflection
Welcome to my reflection of this E-Portfolio, which was a good way to convey visually my mental writing process. This E-Portfolio also gave me an opportunity to use visuals and online materials to exhibit my strengths, and the best skills I acquired during my Honors English 192 class. An online portfolio also gives me the opportunity to convey information in an efficient and current manner. For example, in the front page of the e-portfolio, I provided a biography and pictures of myself to give viewers a quick sense of who I am. In conjunction with this feature, my biography reaffirms convictions of my life, my hobbies, and my aspirations for the future.
The Fall 2012 semester has been an interesting semester in my Honors English 192 class. I formed new friendships and met very talented people, of whom I always strived to learn something new. However, there is always a catch. I remember Professor Boehm saying, “There will not be other semester as hard as this one.” I completely agree with her and really hope for the best. This semester may have been one of my most mentally demanding ones. I was exposed to a broad range of writing styles, thereby requiring a wide understanding and application of skills, such as visual, analytical, synthesizing, and persuasive. I am jovial about having been exposed all of these writing styles since this broadens my expertise and prepares me for a time when I'm sure I'll be using them.
In the grand arena of my academics, this class has performed an unfathomable service to my career as a student. It is frequent that many people believe that proper writing is not a necessity for a scientist; well, it may not be for those who want to accomplish a ludicrous job. In my own opinion, scientists require proper writing skills as much as they do basic math skills and scientific prowess. A successful scientist needs to present his work to his colleagues in a concise and eloquent way if he wants others to understand his research or even climb up his career ladder.
I was very enthusiastic when I was placed in this English class; it demanded students to perform to the zenith of their capability. This class exposed me to an ample variety of writing styles that I am sure will help me in the future. For example, I am certain I will have to write a research paper that explains an issue and references quality sources of information. I am also sure I will have to write to persuade an audience, to take a neutral stand on an issue and objectively present a non-biased opinion, and to work with non-Native English speakers, so as to maintain proper communication and achieve a common task.
I am conscious of the amount of effort I put into this semester, and this is what I am most proud of. It reminds me to always do my best and continue challenging myself. I suppose this has become a life lesson that I hope will teach me to work hard and to be proficient in a wide spectrum of areas. It was not an easy task, and I was confronted with situations where I could not anticipate the next move. Perhaps my greatest struggle throughout this semester has been my writing style. When I was learning English, one of my English teachers who was of British decent taught me to write in a fashion different from the American writing style. My other English teacher imbibed in my mind to always write and speak in the most appropriate manner. I suppose there is some truth to both lessons, but this class has also taught me an equally deserving lesson: that the rule my English teachers taught me can and should be broken when necessary. It's all about what audience I am writing for. Besides, my teacher told me that in America it is customary to express oneself in the most clear and concise way. And it makes sense, since the same principle applies to scientific research. For instance, not all physicists know what a biologist is talking about, and vice versa, and so both have to explain each other's work in a fast and easy way. I am not saying one way is right or wrong, but that they are different.
To summarize, I have enjoyed this class because I acquired a vast amount of writing techniques, styles, and my English skills seemed to have increased substantially. I have become more adaptable to writing to different audiences, especially an American and a non-American audience. This might be the only two types of audiences out there. Bazinga! For those of you who have seen the show "The Big Bang Theory," you may have understood this was a joke.
For the Winter 2013 semester, I tried to challenge myself by taking 23 credits. I chose a broad range of academic classes; from abstract fields like math and physics, to applied ones like computer science, I was able to nourish my mind with interesting topics that I am sure will help my career in the future. However, halfway through the semester I realized that the workload was too much to handle and I decided to postpone my physics course and the lab, putting me back to 18 credits.
I believe I came to a realization this semester. I realized that I didn't have to rush through my undergraduate years, and that I should give my best by taking time to go through my courses. QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY. I suppose I enjoy to challenge myself, but I don't want to produce low quality work because of work overload. This coming semester I will be registering for 16 credits and hopefully get into an internship or co-op.
This first year of college has been one in which I have experiencing multiple disciplines. By this I mean I have been experiencing with my future career by taking a broad range of courses and seeing which one fits my interests the best. From Math, Physics, English, Chemistry, and Computer Science, I can only say that I hope I have found my true interests for a career.
Farewell my friends, and may the force be with you, Juan Sancen
The Fall 2012 semester has been an interesting semester in my Honors English 192 class. I formed new friendships and met very talented people, of whom I always strived to learn something new. However, there is always a catch. I remember Professor Boehm saying, “There will not be other semester as hard as this one.” I completely agree with her and really hope for the best. This semester may have been one of my most mentally demanding ones. I was exposed to a broad range of writing styles, thereby requiring a wide understanding and application of skills, such as visual, analytical, synthesizing, and persuasive. I am jovial about having been exposed all of these writing styles since this broadens my expertise and prepares me for a time when I'm sure I'll be using them.
In the grand arena of my academics, this class has performed an unfathomable service to my career as a student. It is frequent that many people believe that proper writing is not a necessity for a scientist; well, it may not be for those who want to accomplish a ludicrous job. In my own opinion, scientists require proper writing skills as much as they do basic math skills and scientific prowess. A successful scientist needs to present his work to his colleagues in a concise and eloquent way if he wants others to understand his research or even climb up his career ladder.
I was very enthusiastic when I was placed in this English class; it demanded students to perform to the zenith of their capability. This class exposed me to an ample variety of writing styles that I am sure will help me in the future. For example, I am certain I will have to write a research paper that explains an issue and references quality sources of information. I am also sure I will have to write to persuade an audience, to take a neutral stand on an issue and objectively present a non-biased opinion, and to work with non-Native English speakers, so as to maintain proper communication and achieve a common task.
I am conscious of the amount of effort I put into this semester, and this is what I am most proud of. It reminds me to always do my best and continue challenging myself. I suppose this has become a life lesson that I hope will teach me to work hard and to be proficient in a wide spectrum of areas. It was not an easy task, and I was confronted with situations where I could not anticipate the next move. Perhaps my greatest struggle throughout this semester has been my writing style. When I was learning English, one of my English teachers who was of British decent taught me to write in a fashion different from the American writing style. My other English teacher imbibed in my mind to always write and speak in the most appropriate manner. I suppose there is some truth to both lessons, but this class has also taught me an equally deserving lesson: that the rule my English teachers taught me can and should be broken when necessary. It's all about what audience I am writing for. Besides, my teacher told me that in America it is customary to express oneself in the most clear and concise way. And it makes sense, since the same principle applies to scientific research. For instance, not all physicists know what a biologist is talking about, and vice versa, and so both have to explain each other's work in a fast and easy way. I am not saying one way is right or wrong, but that they are different.
To summarize, I have enjoyed this class because I acquired a vast amount of writing techniques, styles, and my English skills seemed to have increased substantially. I have become more adaptable to writing to different audiences, especially an American and a non-American audience. This might be the only two types of audiences out there. Bazinga! For those of you who have seen the show "The Big Bang Theory," you may have understood this was a joke.
For the Winter 2013 semester, I tried to challenge myself by taking 23 credits. I chose a broad range of academic classes; from abstract fields like math and physics, to applied ones like computer science, I was able to nourish my mind with interesting topics that I am sure will help my career in the future. However, halfway through the semester I realized that the workload was too much to handle and I decided to postpone my physics course and the lab, putting me back to 18 credits.
I believe I came to a realization this semester. I realized that I didn't have to rush through my undergraduate years, and that I should give my best by taking time to go through my courses. QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY. I suppose I enjoy to challenge myself, but I don't want to produce low quality work because of work overload. This coming semester I will be registering for 16 credits and hopefully get into an internship or co-op.
This first year of college has been one in which I have experiencing multiple disciplines. By this I mean I have been experiencing with my future career by taking a broad range of courses and seeing which one fits my interests the best. From Math, Physics, English, Chemistry, and Computer Science, I can only say that I hope I have found my true interests for a career.
Farewell my friends, and may the force be with you, Juan Sancen