Author: Avery (Page 5 of 6)

Throughout this semester in English, we have learned how to become a better peer reviewer. Due to this, I was able to use the skills we have learned in other classes. The best example of this is my Biology 104 Lab. In lab, we have had two large essays to write. First, we had to write a species report and then a lab report. In both of these reports, I had my classmates read mine and I read theirs. Since the lab report was the first lab report of the year, we were all nervous because not many people knew how to write one properly. Having an in-class peer review really helped with the lab report because it allowed for us to look over each others and make sure it was structurally and grammatically correct. By having a peer review session, I felt my report was much better.  

The essay drafting technique I have learned in English 110 has been very useful in many other classes I have taken so far in college. I use it in every class that I need to write essays in. One specific class I needed to use essay drafting technique was Biology 104 Lab. Although, this class is a science class, we still have to write essays about species or a lab. One specific essay was a species report, I wrote about a spotted salamander. I used the essay drafting technique because I wrote a rough draft, then had classmates peer-review it. Then I reworked it and wrote another draft. After this draft, I had my teacher look over it. Next, I made changes that my teacher thought and re-read it myself, Finally, I wrote the final report and turned it in. By having my classmates and teacher peer-review my essay, I believe it made the essay better. I will link my final draft of the species report. 

Every summer since I was in eighth grade I have volunteered at MaineGeneral Hospital in the Cancer Wing. I would throw on a pair of khakis and a white polo at six in the morning each Thursday and volunteer from 8-12. Although many people that come into the Cancer Wing are in an  incredible amount of pain, more than half of them never show it. They are always kind and many like to crack a joke or tease me. I have met numerous people that have changed my life entirely. Two of these people, helped me decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

It was the summer before my senior year of high school and as always I was volunteering. The day was pretty miserable and you could tell that the patients were done with the rain and tiredness of the outside world. I was trying my best to put on a smile and try to brighten their day but I was feeling the tiredness too. Then, in rolled a couple, holding hands, and giggling about something that only the two of them would have gotten. The CNA positioned their seats so they were facing each other. The husband started talking and his wife got treatment, he loved her with all his heart. He said that once she passed away, there was no point in him living. I sat with them for almost my entire volunteering shift, just listening to their stories. I was blown away by these two amazing people. 

After their treatment was over, I hung by the nurses station for awhile quizzing them on the two patients and if there were other patients like them. The nurses said that all the patients had stories and they heard at least one amazing story everyday. I knew right then that I wanted to listen to these stories for the rest of my life. I decided that day that I wanted to do something in the medical field with oncology patients. I can thank that amazing couple and the lovely nurses at MaineGeneral for showing me the light.

This story can relate to an idea from David Gilbert, in the excerpt from his book, he talks about how we talk to people that have experienced things we want to experience, so we can decide whether we want to actually experience it or not. He refers to this idea has a surrogate. I used my conversations with the nurses as a surrogate for what I want to do in the future. I also think that volunteering, as a whole, is a surrogate for having the opportunity to experience careers.  

I use my active reading skills in a lot of my classes, but one of the classes that I have used it the most in my First Year Experience (IHS) class. We were assigned a book, I Believe, to read and discuss in small groups. Although the professor did not say we had to annotate, I knew it would be a lot easier discussing if I annotated. By annotating I had the ability to bring up quotes and key major points while discussing. I also knew I could relate the stories with myself or other stories. By relating the stories helped me remember them. I also have used critical thinking by asking questions throughout the text then asking them to my discussion group. My active reading skills have benefited me in many classes, IHS discussions are very good and intellectual because almost everyone annotates!

As the semester continues, I feel as though my annotating skills have gotten much better. At the beginning of the semester I tended to annotate just to understand key ideas in the text. Now, I am still annotating to help me understand but also asking questions, challenging the author, and drawing relationships between this text and myself or other texts. In Henig’s article, “What Is It about 20-Something?”, I noticed my annotating skills were improving. I started off just annotating to understand but as the article progressed, I began to relate it to a TEDTalk we watched in class as well as annotating my personal opinion. I also asked questions that pushed for a better understanding. To better understand what I mean when I say my annotations have greatly approved, I will link my first ever annotations to this post. These annotations prove that I did not grasp the critical thinking skills to use annotation to improve my understanding of a piece. Although I have improved my annonating skills, it was very hard because by forcing yourself to focus only on the text and think logically about the text and the outside world can be very difficult. Due to this I still have room for improvement by challenging the text more and asking more critical questions. 

Although reading and annotating help me understand the text better, another way that helps me understand is by writing a short paragraph after the text. This way, I can write about what I understand from the text and relate back to it if I ever have to discuss ideas and situations in the text. Being able to think critically about the text and relate it to myself as well as other texts helps me to understand what I am reading more. In my paragraph from Henig, I wrote about a concept in the text and how I felt about it and how it related to me. I now have a better understanding of “What Is It about 20-Something?” because I had the ability to relate it to myself. 

One of the things that I really wanted to improve on in my second essay of the semester was going more in-depth on each topic I bring up. My first essay was decent but it could have been much better if I had slowed down and elaborated more on the topics supporting my thesis. My global change that I am working on for my second rough draft of my Technology essay is elaboration. I believe this will make my paper stronger because it will help the reader better understand my argument as well as make the flow of the paper better.

 Today in class we had to peer review our classmates second essay of the semester using Global Peer Review edits. I had to peer review a friend’s essay. I believe that my best comments were the ones that helped her go more in-depth into her essay. Many of us, including myself, usually only write on the top layer of our papers, never going in deeper and more in-depth. If everyone in the class tried to be more in-depth all of your writing would be much better. I believe by reminding my friend to go more in-depth will help her produce a great essay!