As my FIQWS Writing class comes to an end, I have realized how much I have transformed as a writer. In this evaluation I am going to address what my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer and how they have manifested themselves throughout the semester. We completed a great deal of work throughout the semester; from grammar exercises, summary reviews, Journal Prompts to three challenging essays. Throughout the semester I found myself improving in each category. As a writer, my skills and confidence have developed into more clarity and thought, something I have always wanted to be, as a result of a well constructed class that led to a superb educational experience. To begin, I am going to write about my weaknesses and how they transitioned into strengths.  Firstly, I remember after each assignment was assigned I would brainstorm for hours and still be stuck without any topic in mind. Even If I could find a topic I liked, there wouldn’t be enough I could write about it. For example, when I first started writing my Literacy Narrative, I thought to myself that there’s no way I can find out a good story that would highlight my experience with writing and how it affected me. My peer sent me her draft a few days early. From there, I realized that it doesn’t matter what I write, it just has to be something that happened to ME and how it has affected my writing experience in general. So essentially, this class has helped me realize that I can write about anything as long as it can define the way I am.

Another weakness I had was my poorly constructed sentences. It was pointed out to me by one of my peers that I had been trying my hardest to write sentences with complex words which deformed the sentences and the sentence itself didn’t make any sense. So, in my Exploratory essay I tried something that completely changed my writing style. I strictly wrote words that are easy to understand and it completely changed the way the story was being told. I have struggled with writer’s block with often. In the past, I’ve learned to take breaks while writing to help alleviate symptoms of writers block; however, during the semester I have learned to carry a pad of paper with me so that I can write down idea’s while they are fresh in my mind. Writing down my thoughts has helped me avoid writers block because I have a list of thoughts about the subject before I have even started writing. Before this class I also didn’t know anything about rhetorical terms and had some problems with grammar as well. It was a task that took a significant amount of time and effort, but was truly an excellent learning experience. I found it intriguing how much the original essay can improve or modify over time; moreover, how different ideas flow through your brain each second. The revision of my essays taught me an enormous deal about writing and was genuinely pleasurable to do. In summary, I had an enjoyable time in my first college English class. I pushed myself as diligently as I could and learned much more than I thought I would. In addition to, my strengths grew stronger and my weaknesses improved as well. I made personal connections in every single essay I wrote this semester, I either used personal examples or discussed issues that I am passionate about and that are important to me. I am  hesitant to say I am satisfied with the work I produced this year, as I know I could do much better than what I have turned in. All of my essays could use a little, sometimes more so a lot of work, to get them to where I feel they need to be. In comparison to essays I wrote in previous years, I see tremendous amounts of growth in my voice, word choice and all around style of writing. However, I feel that I still have room to grow. I hope to take what I have learned this year and apply it to my writing next year. Writing is an everlasting skill that will be an enormous asset to me that I will cherish for the rest of my life.