Dear Professor Campbell,

My portfolio is set up with a theme of beauty. I did this because my future career is

going to include creativity and design. Also I think language truly is beautiful, and I wanted to

share my ideas in this form. I did not want to theme my portfolio the same as my topic, even

though I thought about it, because honestly I want nothing to do with that topic after this

semester. I learned that through the research the topic I chose was really boring and I want that

passionate about the issue. Anyways, I set up the main tabs with quotes and pictures describing

my definition of beauty. Each tab is color coordinated, and separated into different categories.

If attention was focused on something on my portfolio I would want it to be my formatting and

design. I learned that I spent a little too much time on formatting but at least it looks decent. I

am glad that I got practice using a website maker, even though I almost threw my computer

against the wall multiple times. I am proud that I at least finished this assignment because many

times I wanted to quit also, not on the assignment, but on school. I pushed myself though, and

summer is calling my name.

I don’t want to say that I when backwards in progress, but I can definitely see when I

lost my motivation. My first few assignments I am really proud of, but as they went on, they

weren’t my best work, but I learned that I am still pretty good at making it work when I am not

that into the paper or assignment I am doing. I am not the type of person to do things half way,

but this semester taught me that sometimes your best is not as great as usual. I learned a lot

about pushing myself this semester, because I did not want to be here. Maybe writing this so

close to summer is making me feel this way, but I don’t know. My lack of motivations shows

because I obviously put off the EIP section until last. Like I said, my topic was starting to annoy

me so I should have just done that first to get it over with but I procrastinated. However,

reading my literacy narrative was nice because I think I did a good job on that assignment, and

reading some of my journal entries was fun because I don’t remember writing some things in

my journal. This semester, this class, and other things helped me learn more about myself. I

learned that procrastinating stresses me out and I should always try to avoid that. I also learned

that if I am not passionate about something it is hard to put full effort into it. Many of my

journals said that I was overwhelmed, and I learned that that was mostly because I was putting

things off this semester. I have learned from my mistakes, and I will take this into consideration

in the future when I have a lot to do. My most important work in this class was my portfolio.

Designing a website is going to be beneficial to my future and right now I think that the point of

college is to better my future. Because of school, writing is not something I enjoy doing because

it is so formal and I don’t like that. I love writing for myself though, because I can do and say

whatever I want, and I don’t have to use citations which honestly were so hard for me to

understand this semester. That is one thing I definitely learned more about, because in high

school I never used MLA in source citations. I will use that thought my college career and I am

glad I have tools to go to when I am getting confused while writing a research paper. It was a

good experience to write the annotated bibliography because I needed to learn these skills for

other classes. My EIP was my most dreaded assignment. I hate researching and it was a chore

for me to write both the first and final drafts. At this point I was ready to write about something

other than my topic which is my fault for choosing a topic that bored me. After my topic

proposal, I was ready to move on to something else. I put this assignment off and got really

frustrated trying to finish it, but I guess it turned out okay. I hate that I am sounding negative,

but this semester was a drag for me. I am just a freshman and I am already wanting to

graduate. I was hoping this semester would be better than last, which it was, but it was still not

what I expected. I am still going to be optimistic and hope the summer refreshes me and gets

me ready for my sophomore year. Someone told me it takes a year for a student to get used to

college and I definitely agree. I know now how to better myself as a student, and I know what

to do if I am struggling. I will take away a lot from this course. Besides the assignments there

were videos and class discussions that helped me grow as a person. I will take away all of the

knowledge about writing and everything else because aside from my lack of motivation, I

managed to pay attention to most things. I really appreciate having a professor that gave me

the necessary resources to succeed and that actually tried to learn about me as a person. Also

thanks for listening to me complain but I guess you kind of had to in order to grade this. I had a

great time in your class, and if I were to take it again I would have procrastinated less. I’m going

to end with one last thank you for not being a boring teacher and making waking up at 8am not

so bad. Have a great summer!

Seaira Baker