Dear whoever it may concern,

When I entered college I had the idea that my English class was going to be horrible and
hard. Not to mention, my teacher to be an old, wrinkly instructor who would assign a 10-page
essay the first day. Thank goodness that wasnt the case, turned out I tested below the college
level for English 101. As I was registering, I was informed I was being put in something called a
Stretch Program. The old teacher was in fact Ms. Russell (Who is awesome by the way). In the
first semester, I noticed my writing was improving through leaps and bounds. Now, Im more
confident in my writing ability.
Throughout the year, we took a deep look into discourse communities. The first
semester I talked about a discourse community that I was actively involved in, which was the
Navajo community. This year, I focused on a community that I was defiantly not a part of.
Which was the Adrenaline Junkies, or most commonly known as the adventurous, curious
type. Sometimes mistaken for the Indiana Jones personaters, who are unnaturally addicted to
granola bars. The discourse community was tied into the commercial I was researching about I
Love the Whole World featured on the Discovery Channel. The more I researched the more I
realized what Discovery Channel was trying to portray. The commercial was showing us the
beauty of the planet we call our home. Earth is the home of 6 billion people with different
cultures, traditions, personalities, and beliefs. If we just pause and look up from our phones,
tablets, or whatever were holding; we might just be able to see what Mother Earth holds. In
retrospect, the adrenaline junkies may be the only one who love to get up and go hiking. To
get away from the dull city limits and have some fun.
Frankly, in the beginning my writing process was really, really bad. When I was a young
whipper-snapper in the dark days of high school: I was accustomed to the tedious process of
writing. Make a web, rough draft, edit, and then make the final draft (Almost fell asleep typing
that, it was that boring). With the MWAs I had to actually research something on the internet
to know what I was going to write about. A lot better than what I did before, believe me. As I
researched I began to increase the essay length, to a point where I didnt have to start writing
something that was spontaneous (Sometimes it wasnt even related to what I was supposed to
write about). At UNM, teachers are really tough on prewriting and editing. Which to say, was a
strange concept for me. In the high school years, I never had a teacher who cracked down on
my writing. My old essays had so much errors, that I was surprised that I made it into college.
But in the long run, I adapted well and I think Im doing a swell job at my writing process.
Nowadays, its a lot faster to come up with ideas and my writing is smoother.
As stated in the earlier paragraph, I was not the brightest of the bunch back in August.
My grammar and use of word choice was equivalent to a Kindergartener. Now, Im proud to say
I have increased my word usage and grammar is steadily getting better. A while ago I had an
essay due for my Dance class, which I knew wasnt going to be that hard to write. Turns out, I
got a C mostly due to the fact that my teacher wanted a formal essay, not the type of essay
that I was used to expressing my thought and ideas. I learned that I had to expand my dialect to
make the essay sound formal (I just imagined that I was talking to my Aint isnt a word
mother). Before I even begin my writing process, I now make sure what kind of dialect my
teacher is looking for.
Researching is now one of my best friends. Its basically what I do all the time since I got
to college. Not that Im complaining. Researching is actually interesting, I learned so much
about ethos, pathos, logos and how to incorporate it into my writing. As I reached, I begin to
see in different view point that I never thought about. Sometimes changing the way I think,
which changes how I see things. Who knew that the Discovery Channel had a mission statement
to satisfy curiosity and enlighten peoples minds! I now arbore a deep respect for the Discovery
Channel.
With the end of my freshman year drawing to a close, Im happy that I had Ms. Clare as
a teacher. I have gained so much knowledge about writing, grammar, discourse communities
and analyzing. I intend to hold what she taught me throughout my college years and beyond!

Sincerely,
Bekki Cecil