Self Evaluation

1. Everyone always said how college was so much different from high school, but they said the same thing about middle school so I was not too worried. How different could it possibly be? Well, I underestimated that one. Coming to Penn State was like being thrown into a completely world. My mom was not there to make my food. My dad was not here to watch television with me. My friends who I saw every day for four straight years were hundreds of miles away. Everything was so different and to be honest, I did not know how I was going to do it. Eventually, things took a turn for the better and at the end of this semester, I can safely say that I love college and being here is one of the best things ever.

            I learned a lot over the course of the semester in this class. When it came to my writing, I learned that I needed to build up certain details that I brought up. I tend to mention things once and never link them to my thesis or other pieces of the paper. My essays sometimes ended abruptly and now with the instruction I have received, I believe I have effectively fixed that problem. I also thoroughly enjoyed that this class focused around the arts, something I never really have classes on. We attended the arboretum and Palmer Museum of Art. We got to explore many different events and even got to see a play! We were also encouraged to venture into the world of the arts on our own, something most teachers never asked me to do. It was a great new experience that I genuinely enjoyed. I discovered that almost anything can be an art form. Our curated art exhibit was a fun project to complete for the simple fact that we could do it on something we loved or experienced. My group’s project on the 90s gave us a chance to go back and relive the things that changed the course of our childhood. The memoir opened me up to emotions I would not normally express while the ad analysis paper allowed me to dig deeper for details and what motivated the artist to create the advertisement.

            English 015S was my only small seated class. Every other class I had is held in a large lecture hall or in the downtown movie theatre. I made some good friends in an environment that it was easy to talk to people in. I even went and saw a movie with a few! I liked that the smaller size gave people more of an opportunity to participate. I have never been one to talk in class. I am an outgoing person, but I like listening to discussion rather than participating. It is a downfall when it comes to the participation grade, but I have always been this way. The atmosphere of the class was much more enjoyable than large lectured classes. English 015S was actually the very first college class I attended at Penn State. On the first day, I showed up to the wrong section, but eventually I showed up to the right one and I am glad I did. I ventured outside the realms of the classroom more than I thought I would. I am proud that I did not let the walls of the classroom confine me like in classes I had taken in high school. College is a time to experience new things and I am certainly happy that I have.

            Penn State is an incredibly large school. There are over 40,000 students. I was thrown in and felt myself slowly sinking. Now, 40,000 does not seem like that big of a number. I always find someone to say hi to while walking to class. I always can grab a friend to eat lunch with. I have joined some great clubs and organizations that I know will help me grow as a person and student. Penn State has so much to offer. English 015S helped me realize that Penn State has opportunities I never would have discovered without the guidance of the course. Overall, my experience in English 015S was a great one and I hope that I can grow more as a student in other classes I take.

2. Blog Round Up: Whenever I tried to copy the URLs for each post, the link would always come up as our class course blog. Instead of copying all the links I posted the date and whose blog and post it was. Hope its okay!

1.     September 21: Kayla Bracall- Self Analysis: My Blog

2.     October 8: Sam Hellman- The Arboretum at Penn State

3.     October 12: Genae Salinas- The Social Network

4.     October 15: Alexandra Vaughan-Masamitsu- Scream 2

5.     October 25: Kristina Wagers- Scream 2

6.     November 4: Elysa Kolvek- The Social Network

7.     November 11: Marie- The Bad Bugs

8.     November 12: Tom Stratford- The Arboretum at Penn State

9.     November 27: Marisa Cutillo- In the Red and Brown Water

10.  December 10: Bridget O’Brien- Arts/Cultural Event: Wiz Khalifa

3. SRTE Evaluations:

Hi Ms. S- I completed the SRTE evaluations!