Starting college was one of the biggest steps I have ever taken in my life, especially in whole different country, with different culture and with people speaking different languages, I took the responsibility of investing in my education for a good cause and outcome. Taking English Freshman Composition class is mandatory for every freshman student, but the way one is taught and how they study creates different consequences. On the first day of class my professor outlined eight goals for the class and said that with just enough hard-work and determination, every student would be able to accomplish them and now, hours before my last class I look back and realize that work that I put in paid off, I successfully accomplished all the eight goals outlined in the syllabus, thanks to various assignments, homeworks, essays and discussions whether in person or online on Blackboard.
        First line of the course goals in syllabus says, “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users” ,  with the assignments associated to Lippi-Green and Anzaldua, learning about language myths and how Chicano Spanish is also giving birth to a sense of identity, I am successfully recognizing the role language plays in shaping us as who we are.
    Next to that, syllabus mentions, “Explore and analyze in their own and other’s writing a variety of genres and rhetorical situations” and “Develop strategies for reading, drafting, revising, and editing”, every essay from all the four of major ones ensure that students indeed develop different strategies for reading and drafting, plus revising it with their peers on Blackboard and giving each other feedback is extremely helpful, with every essay I had to create drafts and read what others wrote, so that I could improve myself and get better at giving the feedback.   
 Next lines of course goals read, “Practice systematic application of citation conventions” and “Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations”, Research Exploratory Essay required me to practice my citation skills, get more comfortable with MLA and create good-looking Works Cited page, in the end I did it well and accomplished the goal. Adding to that, every personal story that I read from Reading Packet also came with the assignment that asked me to identify tone, context and the strategies that writer was using to address the reader, being provided various material that helps person to successfully master those skills, I too with my work and passion was able to reach that goal.

  Next three lines in the syllabus are mainly connected to each other, each one of them says, “Develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes”, “Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences” and “Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases/archives and on the internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, and bias.” Social aspects of writing process can be viewed as an assignments posted on discussion forum in which I with my peers review each other’s work and give feedback, helping ourselves and helping each other, latest assignment about Language Myths was very enjoyable to do and I finally got to have social interaction with my classmates . Research Exploratory Essay started with whole class having a presentation given by City College librarian about the resources offered by CUNY that would help our research, like that I was able to have access to multiple sources that would help me in creating and drafting my essays, although it was very important to also verify them for their credibility and accuracy, for that our instructor gave us sheet with multiple questions that would help us identify fraud and bias, these questions are universal, meaning that I can use them on any source, which is pretty good. This essay that I am writing is pure example of using digital technology to address the target audience, which in my case is anyone who will be reading my portfolio, this essay will be uploaded on my WordPress website, along with all the other essays that I have done in this class and any person will be free to read and check them out.

      Looking back and reading all the 8 goals set in syllabus of the course, I can say that I achieved all eight of them, so Intro to this course was all real, with just enough hard-work and instructor pushing me the right direction enabled me to satisfy requirements set by the course and college.

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