Reflective Journal

Rudy Yammine

Backstreet Apartments

Yamout St.

Rcy01@mail.aub.edu

12/7/2017

Dr. Zane Sinno

Department of English

American University of Beirut

Beirut Lebanon

Dear Dr. Zane Sinno,

Throughout this long and arduous semester, we were constantly bombarded with assignments, tests, and quizzes that we were expected to not only succeed but excel in. As for English 203, we were expected to write multiple essays, present an oral presentation and turn in perhaps the most difficult task of all, the problem-solution report. The key to my success throughout this semester was trying to think about the tasks at hand before the deadline, which in turn allowed me to prepare, and start writing at an earlier date, which provided me the opportunity to look over my work multiple times before submitting them in. I remember being told before that once you look at something for a long period of time without any rest, you begin missing out on errors that perhaps seem clearer once you look at them with fresh and well-rested eyes. I took that idea to heart and I implemented it into my work throughout this semester. To be completely honest, that was one of the reasons behind my success. I was able to edit my work multiple times, remove any grammatical errors, and fix the flow of my reports so that they are read in the way I intended them to be read in. That does not mean that the work that I submitted was 100% perfect however, it does mean that there is room for improvement. To improve my work, I would like to, in the near future, start reading books again as I used to do back in the day when it was a hobby of mine. Reading books would help me learn new styles of writing, improve my vocabulary, and perhaps provide me with another alternative method of writing which in turn would help me improve my writing and my abilities as an English writer.

Throughout this semester, there were numerous ups and downs that are worth mentioning. For instance, I really enjoyed the long, but entertaining discussions that we had in class as it allowed me to look at the different perspectives there are for each and every situation. These discussions also maintained my attention in class as they could be considered a break between the learning and the writing. However, despite these great moments there were also some that were not so great. For instance, I despised the part of the semester where we were looking at dignity and clientelism and Lebanese politics as those are things that do not interest me at all.

As an International Baccalaureate student, we were taught and expected to turn out as well-rounded writers who should not struggle in anything they worked at. And that in my opinion is my major strength as a communicator in the English language. Whatever we were expected to do, the work we submitted had to be decent to say the least. Because of this, I am progressing in my major flaw or weakness as an English communicator. I struggle to present and be able to talk in front of an audience, to the point where I start pausing and in some cases sweating. These conditions prevent me from trying when I have a presentation, as seen in the grade I received for this semester’s presentation. I am trying to use my strength as a well-rounded writer to improve my presentation skills and slowly but surely, I am improving and becoming a better presenter. This is because having the idea that I can achieve anything as a writer ingrained into my mind is slowly building my confidence as a presenter to the point where I no longer have to struggle once I stand in front of an audience.

All in all, it was a successful semester where I not only developed as a writer but as a student too. I am getting used to the idea of working on an assignment overtime instead of procrastinating and waiting for the last second to work on it. And because of that, I believe that this skill I am developing will help me in other subjects as I will perhaps start studying for a test a week before I am expected to write it.

Sincerely Yours,

Rudy Yammine