15 April 2019

Portfolio Committee
Northern Oklahoma College
English Department
615 North Monroe
Stillwater Oklahoma, 74076

Dear Mrs. Davis,

I have gathered a handful of writings from my most recent two semesters of my college writing
career. The writings I have gathered are a collection which show my beliefs, personal
experiences, and display my capability of research. I am an organized person and I chose these
pieces because I believe they are good pieces to represent me as a writer by how well organized
they are.

My first writing, I did for my composition II class this spring at NOC. I chose this piece because
it is one of my better pieces from composition II. With this writing I got to show how I made a
change in a friend of mines life. I felt like this essay showcased good organization as well as
transition. The topic was easy to write about because it was a personal experience in my life. I
also feel like this was a great essay to include because it is one which I feel like others can relate
to fairly easy or if anything persuade them with my point in the story. My second writing was a
research essay I did in composition I. I was really proud of this essay because it was my first
time to actually use source work and I used it well. The essay showed how technology has
impacted agriculture and I had to find the information to support my idea. I enjoyed writing this
essay because agriculture is one subject, I do know a lot about coming from a small agricultural
community. This essay reflects great research, the use of direct quotes, and paraphrases. This
essay is important to include because it shows the use of creditable sources which makes it an
essay you can learn from and I believe it may be one of my better essays. My third essay is one
of my first to write in composition I. This essay was about an event in my life in which I was
proud of. I was proud of being a state champion. I included this essay because it talks a little
about me and a great experience in my life. I believe this essay showcased good sentence
structure as well as staying on topic with the prompt. My fourth and final essay was also one of
the first ones from composition I. I included this essay because it also talks a little about me and
how I made my dreams come true. My dream was to become a state champ. To make the dream
come true was tough and I talk about all the challenges or steps I went through to get it done. I
feel like if someone were to read it then it would maybe give them some inspiration or advice as
well. I believe this essay reflects decent punctuation, but I learned from it. The essay stayed on
topic and I feel like the transitions in it were good.

After all the hours spent in my composition classes I have noticed growth in myself as a reader
and writer. My literate skills improved as pieces of writings were assigned to me as homework. I
would take those pieces and analyze them as well as learn from them. I would learn from them in
ways which included finding out what new words meant because I had never seen them before,
and I would also learn from what the pieces of writing had to say. Each piece was never the same
either so I would get to see how the authors organized and structured their pieces as well. Each
one of these improvements I gained from reading then affected me as a writer. They affected me
as a writer is ways which I can now write with more complicated words. When I need to write a
more official writing, I now can use words which make me sound more knowledgeable instead
of using normal words a child would say. Not only did it just affect my word usage, but it helped
me in my writing process. I am able to analyze my topics and come up with the best way to write
about them. It helped me be more organized as well. After seeing in the readings how authors
would structure their writings, I then would try to do the best I can to be more organized where it
would make more sense.

My writing process consists of several steps. Throughout my writing days it has evolved in many
ways. I think my process is finally at the stage where it best works with me and the way I go
about writing. The first step of my writing process is understanding what it is I am going to be
writing about. If I do not understand what I need to write about then there is no way I can write
about it. After I understand what I am writing about I then make an outline. On the outline I
come up with my title, introduction, thesis, three body paragraphs with subjects to go underneath
them, and then my conclusion. The outline helps me be organized and keeps my thoughts on
paper instead of wondering around. After the outline I then begin my rough draft where I will
incorporate everything from my outline into my paper. In the rough draft I can fix whatever
errors I see or add and remove sentences. The rough draft is the piece of writing right before the
final copy. Once I get everything how I want it on the rough draft I then write it down one more
time which completes my final piece. My final piece should have no errors and be done to my
best ability. If I had a writing toolbox I would definitely include my outline method. I would
include this because I like to see my ides on paper before I begin writing. It makes me feel more
comfortable about my work. I am an organized person and the outline makes me feel like I am
being organized. In the outline I plan out what I am going to write about before I actually begin
writing about it. The outline allows for little error to be made in my opinion.

Throughout my writing career I have gone through several stages of progression. I have
developed many strengths and still have several weaknesses. I personally feel like my strengths
consist of my brainstorming, sentence structure, organization, and transitions into sentences. All
the essays I included in my portfolio exhibit my strengths. These strengths have helped me out a
lot with my writings, but I once was not the best at them. It took a lot of writings and help from
tutors and teachers to feel as comfortable as I am today with these strengths. My weaknesses
include my punctuation and use of “dirty words”. These two weaknesses have been a trouble of
mine for a long time, but I continue to try and better myself. My essays in my portfolio don’t
exhibit a lot of my weaknesses because before I am done with them I get them revised.

In conclusion, I feel like this class has helped me in huge amounts. It has taught me how to do
tasks I once did not know or even forgot about. It has taught me tasks which doesn’t involve an
essay. I got better at staying on task and learning how to use new websites or even navigating the
ones I have always used better. I used to think writing was unnecessary, but I now see how
important it is. What is next for me is to continue my college education and get a major in
engineering where I plan on taking it to the oilfield industry. I can see myself writing either in
the future classes I will take, writing for a letter of recommendation, or even to the company I
may wish to work for in the future. I feel like I am prepared for what my next classes and even
my future in the workforce have to offer. I plan on taking the discipline and organization I have
learned and incorporating it. I hope to stay in touch with you and plan on asking you for any
essay help I may have in the future. You have been a great teacher and I have really enjoyed your
class. If you ever need anything I’m just at the reach of an email. Thank you for taking the time
to read my portfolio and I would love to sit down and talk about what you thought.

Sincerely, thanks again,

Dillon Schmidt