“Progress of a Writer”

By: Timmy ReeckProfessor ReddingEnglish 1101 Final Portfolio

English 1101 Final Portfolio “Progress of a Writer”

Table of Contents

Analytical Cover Letter ……………………………………………………………....Page 1 Quality Comparison …………………………………………………………………...Page 2 Least Successful: This I believe ……………………………………….. Page 2 Most Successful: Ad Analysis………………………….......................... Page 4 “What’s the Difference?” Short Essay ……………………………. …Page 7 Revision Samples …………………………………………………………………… …Page 8 This I believe mark-up …………………………………………………… Page 8 This I believe Final Version ……………………………………………. .Page 10 Ad Analysis mark-up …………………………………………………….…Page 12 Ad Analysis Final Version ……………………………………………...…Page 15 Procrastination Essay mark-up …………………………………… ….Page 18 Procrastination Essay Final Version ………………………………... Page 20

Analytical Cover Letter

December 5th

, 2012

Tim Reeck

Professor Redding

Final Portfolio ENGL 1101

Dear Professor Redding,

Throughout the semester I have noticed that my writing abilities have definitely

progressed in the best way possible. This is because you have given me good pointers and

taught me different writing tactics to make my writing improve. I have never been worthy

of writing a good thesis statement, but after talking with you about how to make a thesis

statement for my Ad analysis paper I have developed more ability to write thesis

statements. For example, in my Ad analysis paper I said “This advertisement is geared for

all Nike and basketball fans and aims to sell you Nike products because of the “talent” it

brings to you when you wear the apparel” (Reeck, paper 3). I went on to talk about how

Nike apparel tricks people into buying their products because of the talent it “brings” you

when wearing Nike products playing a sport. I learned that a good thesis statement could

basically produce a very well written paper. I have noticed a significant difference in

writing papers after this semester with you as my professor compared to when I was

writing papers in high school. Also, I have learned how to better explain my reasoning’s

in all of my papers to make a clear explanation on the point I am trying to make. Writing

papers in College are a huge component to progressing on to your major. If you can write

a well written paper then you can always be prepared to write anything your major asks

you for. For example, I am majoring in nursing. You need to be able to write and

document certain things about the patient that needs to be recorded. I strongly believe

that writing papers can help me use more advanced vocabulary and understand what the

doctors prescribe for the patient. All in all, I believe that just from this one semester in

your English 1101 class I have become the best writer I have ever been in my entire life. I

learned very key things to writing and it is because of your teaching. I thank you for

making a difference in my writing and helping me become more advanced in vocabulary

and writing.

Sincerely,

Tim Reeck

I Believe family is everything

Family is where you learn everything, such as love, friendship, trust, and faith. I believe that

family values set the tone of how you want to live your life and I believe that family knows

what is best for you. I believe this is all true because of what has happened to my family and

me.

In 2007, my parents decided that it was a good time to move from the place that I called

home. I used to live in Florida and never thought of moving at anytime. When they broke the

news to me I was furious, and didn’t speak to my parents for two solid days. I didn’t know

what to think of it! I was leaving all of my friends to go to a place where friends were

nonexistent for me. We were moving to Georgia, where I knew no one. They kept telling me

that this was the best choice for our family, and I did not want to believe it at all. In June of

2007, I left all of my friends and left for my new home in Georgia. My mom always told me

to “trust her” about how this move was going to be such a great thing. I was too stubborn to

listen to her so I was nothing but rude to both her and my dad.

When we arrived in Georgia, I had no one to hang out with besides my family.

This is where I learned that family is everything. I became very close with my mom, dad,

sister, brother, grandma and grandpa because I had no one else. I finally started high school

and joined the baseball team and that’s when everything got better. I met all of my friends

through baseball and have developed some very strong friendships to this day. Moving to

Georgia caused me to get closer to my grandparents as well. We would always go to my

grandma’s house to eat dinner and hangout. I would always sit and watch baseball with my

grandpa; it was pretty much a tradition. It was the passing of my grandpa that really made me

realize that family is everything! It was my first experience dealing with death, and it was

very emotional considering I got so close to him because of the move.

I was stubborn about moving because I doubted my parents and family. I didn’t believe that

they knew best, and I thought they were taking away my whole life.

Now I have come to realize that your family really does have your best interests at heart.

Even if you don’t realize it, your family knows you better than anyone else in the world. I

have no regrets moving from Florida to Georgia what so ever! It was the best decision ever

made in my life and I thank my parents so much for it. All in all, never doubt your family’s

ability to make you happy; because they usually know what’s best for you, at least that’s how

I feel about my family!

Timmy Reeck

English 1101 / Redding

Composition 3: Summary

15 October 2012

Ad Analysis

Effect and colors catch a reader's eye very easily. When I came across this ad, the

lone man and the fade effect along with the colors caught my eye. The word “talent” is

written across the ad describing the lone man walking on the basketball court. This

advertisement is geared for all Nike and basketball fans and aims to sell you Nike

products because of the “talent” it brings to you when you wear the apparel. It achieves

its goal effectively because most people like Nike products and will buy them just

because Kobe Bryant is promoting this ad by wearing the Nike apparel. After all, he is a

five time NBA champion, so many people want to be just like him.

Looking at the ad you see the word “talent” written across the picture. In the ad, it

is trying to describe that people who wear Nike apparel will have great talent just like

Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant is a five-time NBA champion that a lot of people look up to

and love. When I see an ad that says “talent” and has Kobe in the picture, it immediately

takes me back to when I was a little kid. Nike displays this ad that is basically saying that

if you wear nike apparel you can have as much talent as Kobe. Going into the mind of a

little kid, the kid would think that because Kobe is wearing Nike and if he bought the

same shoes Kobe has, he would have Kobe’s talent. I say this because when I was little, I

always fantasized about being like whomever my favorite players were and would wear

their jerseys or shoes just to act like them. In the ad it also has text that states “You can’t

touch it. You can’t hold it. Because you know it’s there.” This quote means once you

wear Nike, you know you have talent, you don’t have to search for it. It doesn’t have to

be just kids; die hard adult fans would want the same clothes or shoes that Kobe wears.

Lots of people want to be like Kobe Bryant, that’s why I believe this is a successful ad

for Nike because it will make more people want to buy their products and in turn, would

increase their revenue.

The thing that caught my eye in this ad was the colors, the text, and the faded

black effect that covers the basketball court. This also caught my eye because I am a big

basketball fan so anything with a basketball court in it will always catch my attention.

The colors purple and yellow are also eye catchers because you don’t see those colors put

together on an everyday basis, they stand out. The wood floor on the court would also

catch someones eye because it lets everyone know that it is a basketball court. The text

and the lone man, Kobe Bryant, are in the ad to enhance it even more. This ad basically

describes a legend in basketball history walking around on the basketball court alone

showing that he “owns” the court and it is his get away place. This grabs my eye just

because he is a legend in his “home” walking around in Nike apparel showing all his fans

that he wears Nike.

All in all, this ad has many things that would catch people's attention and would be a

great seller for Nike. I believe that this ad would help Nike increase sales just because of

the colors and appearance they used to make the ad. In addition, the fact that they have a

future hall of famer, Kobe Bryant, featured in it wearing Nike apparel also promotes the

ad even more. I like the way they used the word “talent” and referred to Kobe possessing

that talent. The marketing in this ad will make it very profitable for Nike to use to boost

their sales.

Timmy Reeck

English 1101/ Redding

Compare/Contrast

5 December 2012

“What’s the Difference?”

The two essays I chose to compare and contrast are my “This I Believe” and ”Ad

Analysis” papers. I chose these two documents because the “This I Believe” paper was

the first paper we were asked to write and the “Ad Analysis” Paper was one of the last

papers written in the class. I believe that my Ad Analysis paper was a much better written

paper compared to my “This I Believe” paper. My Ad Analysis paper was more

successful because it was written towards the end of the semester. By the time I was

asked to write this paper, I had already learned about the picky rules of my professor and

I developed more enhanced skills to write papers. I used better vocabulary and more

descriptive details to make my point throughout the paper. The first college paper I was

asked to write was my “This I Believe” paper. I believe I wasn't mature or hard enough

on myself to write this paper. Throughout my high school years I never challenged

myself with classes, I always took the easy way out and took regular literature classes. I

regret this because of the grade I received on my first college paper. I wasn't strong

enough with my choice of words and explanations in this paper. Of course there was

strengths in this paper because I was talking about my family and why I believe they are

a very big component in my life. Comparing these two papers my thesis statement in my

analysis paper compared to my “This I Believe” essay was much more stronger. I believe

that because my thesis statement was stronger in this paper I received a better grade. This

is because I was able to explain the points I was trying to make much more

understandable in my analysis paper compared to my “This I Believe” paper. I am a

strong believer in that practice makes perfect. I believe this because the papers I was

asked to write this semester shows that because of the amount of writing I had to do, I

improved in great detail and vocabulary. Thus, writing many papers gives you practice to

make your way into perfection. These two essays show how much I developed in a

semester in my writing and shows how much of a bad writer I was in the beginning of the

semester.

I believe family is everything

Family is the root of important values, such as love, friendship, trust, and faith. I believe

that family values set the tone of how life should be lived and I believe that family knows what is

best. I believe this is all true because of what happened to my family and me.

In 2007, my parents decided that it was a good time to move from the place that I called

home. I used to live in Florida and never thought of moving at anytime. When they broke the

news to me I was furious, and didn’t even speak to my parents for a solid two days. I didn’t

know what to think of it! I was leaving all of my friends to go to a place where friends were

nonexistent for me. We were moving to Georgia, where I knew no one. They kept telling me that

this was the best choice for our family, and I did not want to believe them at all. In June of 2007,

I left all of my friends and left for my new home in Georgia. My mom always told me to “trust

her” about how this move was going to be such a great thing. I was too stubborn to listen to her

so I was nothing but rude to both her and my dad.

When we arrived in Georgia, I had no one to hang out with besides my family. This is

where I learned that family is everything. I became very close with my mom, dad, sister, brother,

grandma, and grandpa because I had no one else. I finally started high school and joined the

baseball team and that’s when everything got better. I met all of my friends through baseball and

have developed some very strong friendships to this day.

Moving to Georgia caused me to get closer to my grandparents as well. We would always

go to my grandma’s house to eat dinner and hang out. I would always sit and watch baseball with

my grandpa; it was pretty much a tradition. It was the passing of my grandpa that really made me

realize that family is everything! It was my first experience dealing with death, and it was very

emotional considering I got so close to him because of the move. I was stubborn about moving

Comment [1]: timmyreeck: need MLA format and a title in the middle of the page.

Comment [2]: timmyreeck: Need a more descriptive thesis statement to better explain the paper.

Comment [3]: timmyreeck: Use a better choice of words for this statement.

Comment [4]: timmyreeck: Can combine this into one sentence

Comment [5]: timmyreeck: Use better description. More advanced vocabulary.

because I doubted my parents and family. I didn’t believe that they knew best, and I thought they

were taking away my whole life. Now I have come to realize that my family really does have my

best interests at heart. Even if I didn’t realize it, my family knows me better than anyone else in

the world. I have no regrets moving from Florida to Georgia whatsoever! It was the best decision

ever made in my life and I thank my parents so much for it. All in all, never doubt your family’s

ability to make you happy, because they usually know what’s best, at least that’s how I feel

about my family!

Comment [6]: timmyreeck: Realization not realize.

Comment [7]: timmyreeck: Use a better choice of vocabulary.

Comment [8]: timmyreeck: A good use of voice. Good use of an exclamation mark.

Timmy Reeck

English 1101 / Redding

Composition 1

5 December 2012

Family is everything

Family is where you learn everything, such as love, friendship, trust, and faith. I believe

that family values set the tone of how you want to live your life and I believe that family

knows what is best for you. I believe that family is everything because of the move we

made from Florida to Georgia where I learned that your family knows what is best for

you whether you know it or not.

In 2007, my parents decided that it was a good time to move from the place that I called

home. I used to live in Florida and never thought of moving at anytime. When they broke

the news to me I was furious, and didn’t speak to my parents for two solid days. I didn’t

know what to think of it! I was leaving all of my friends to go to a place where friends

were nonexistent for me. We were moving to Georgia, where I knew absolutely no one

and knew I was only going to be hanging out with my family. They kept telling me that

this was the best choice for our family, and I did not want to believe it at all. In June of

2007, I left all of my friends and left for my new home in Georgia. My mom always told

me to “trust her” about how this move was going to be such a great thing, but I was too

stubborn too listen to her so I was nothing but rude to both her and my dad.

When we arrived in Georgia, I had no one to hang out with besides my family, which

isn’t always a bad thing, but I wanted to just be with my friends from my hometown.

This is where I learned that family is everything. I became very close with my mom, dad,

sister, brother, grandma and grandpa because I had no one else. I finally started high

school and joined the baseball team and that’s when everything got better. I met all of my

friends through baseball and have developed some very strong friendships to this day.

Moving to Georgia caused me to get closer to my grandparents as well. We would always

go to my grandma’s house to eat dinner and hangout. I would always sit and watch

baseball with my grandpa; it was pretty much a tradition. It was the passing of my

grandpa that really made me realize that family is everything! It was my first experience

dealing with death, and it was very emotional considering I got so close to him because

of the move.

I was stubborn about moving because I doubted my parents and family. I didn’t believe

that they knew best, and I thought they were taking away my whole life.

Now I have come to the realization that your family really does have your best interests at

heart. Even if you don’t realize it, your family knows you more than anyone else in the

world. After all, they are with you every single day of your life. I have no regrets moving

from Florida to Georgia what so ever! It was the best decision ever made in my life and I

thank my parents so much for it. All in all, never doubt your family’s ability to make you

happy; because they usually know what’s best for you, at least that’s how I feel about my

family!

Timmy Reeck

English 1101 / Redding

Composition 3: Summary

15 October 2012

Ad Analysis

Effect and colors catch a reader's eye very easily. When I came across this ad, the lone

man and the fade effect along with the colors caught my eye. The word “talent” is written across

the ad describing the lone man walking on the basketball court. This advertisement is geared for

all Nike and basketball fans and aims to sell you Nike products because of the “talent” it brings

to you when you wear the apparel. It achieves its goal effectively because most people like Nike

products and will buy them just because Kobe Bryant is promoting this ad by wearing the Nike

apparel. After all, he is a five time NBA champion, so many people want to be just like him.

Looking at the ad you see the word “talent” written across the picture. In the ad, it is

trying to describe that people who wear Nike apparel will have great talent just like Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant is a five time NBA champion that a lot of people look up to and love. When I see

an ad that says “talent” and has Kobe in the picture, it immediately takes me back to when I was

a little kid. Nike displays this ad that is basically saying that if you wear nike apparel you can

have as much talent as Kobe. Going into the mind of a little kid, the kid would think that because

Kobe is wearing Nike and if he bought the same shoes Kobe has, he would have Kobe’s talent. I

say this because when I was little, I always fantasized about being like whomever my favorite

players were and would wear their jerseys or shoes just to act like them. In the ad it also has text

Comment [1]: timmyreeck: Need a title for this paper and a picture of my advertisement.

Comment [2]: timmyreeck: Do not use "you"

Comment [3]: timmyreeck: Good thesis statement. Should provide great details.

Comment [4]: timmyreeck: Explain what it makes other people think not only yourself.

Comment [5]: timmyreeck: "An athlete wears"

that states “You can’t touch it. You can’t hold it. Because you know it’s there.” This quote

means once you wear Nike, you know you have talent, you don’t have to search for it. It doesn’t

have to be just kids; die hard adult fans would want the same clothes or shoes that Kobe wears.

Lots of people want to be like Kobe Bryant, that’s why I believe this is a successful ad for Nike

because it will make more people want to buy their products and in turn, would increase their

revenue.

The thing that caught my eye in this ad was the colors, the text, and the faded black effect

that covers the basketball court. This also caught my eye because I am a big basketball fan so

anything with a basketball court in it will always catch my attention. The colors purple and

yellow are also eye catchers because you don’t see those colors put together on an everyday basis,

they stand out. The wood floor on the court would also catch someones eye because it lets

everyone know that it is a basketball court. The text and the lone man, Kobe Bryant, are in the ad

to enhance it even more. This ad basically describes a legend in basketball history walking

around on the basketball court alone showing that he “owns” the court and it is his get away

place. This grabs my eye just because he is a legend in his “home” walking around in Nike

apparel showing all his fans that he wears Nike.

All in all, this ad has many things that would catch people's attention and would be a

great seller for Nike. I believe that this ad would help Nike increase sales just because of the

colors and appearance they used to make the ad. In addition, the fact that they have a future hall

of famer, Kobe Bryant, featured in it wearing Nike apparel also promotes the ad even more. I

Comment [6]: timmyreeck: It does not have to just be kids;

Comment [7]: timmyreeck: Why would they want the same things Kobe wants?

Comment [8]: timmyreeck: What people? Be specific.

Comment [9]: timmyreeck: Do not talk about yourself.

Comment [10]: timmyreeck: compare these colors to Kobe Bryant and how he is a legend.

Comment [11]: timmyreeck: whose?

Comment [12]: timmyreeck: who?

Comment [13]: timmyreeck: who's?

like the way they used the word “talent” and referred to Kobe possessing that talent. The

marketing in this ad will make it very profitable for Nike to use to boost their sales.

Comment [14]: timmyreeck: Take this out.

Timmy Reeck

English 1101 / Redding

Composition 3: Summary

15 October 2012

Kobe Bryant and Nike

Effect and colors catch a reader's eye very easily. When I came across this ad, the

lone man and the fade effect along with the colors caught my eye. The word “talent” is

written across the ad describing the lone man walking on the basketball court. This

advertisement is geared for all Nike and basketball fans and aims to sell basketball

fanatics Nike products because of the “talent” it brings to these fanatics when you wear

the apparel. It achieves its goal effectively because most people like Nike products and

will buy them just because Kobe Bryant is promoting this ad by wearing the Nike

apparel. After all, he is a five-time NBA champion; so many people want to be just like

him.

Looking at the ad you see the word “talent” written across the picture. In the ad, it

is trying to describe that people who wear Nike apparel will have great talent just like

Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant is a five-time NBA champion that a lot of people look up to

and love. When I see an ad that says “talent” and has Kobe in the picture, it immediately

takes me back to when I was a little kid. Nike displays this ad that is basically saying that

if an athlete wears Nike apparel he/she can have as much talent as Kobe. Going into the

mind of a little kid, the kid would think that because Kobe is wearing Nike and if he

bought the same shoes Kobe has, he would have Kobe’s talent. I say this because when I

was little, I always fantasized about being like whoever my favorite players were and

would wear their jerseys or shoes just to act like them. In the ad it also has text that states,

“You can’t touch it. You can’t hold it. Because you know it’s there.” This quote means

once a basketball fanatic wears Nike products, they know they have talent; they don’t

have to search for it. It doesn’t have to be just kids; die-hard adult fans would want the

same clothes or shoes that Kobe wears. Adult fans want what Kobe has because he is

famous, an all-star, and he is rich. Therefore, lots of people want to be like Kobe Bryant,

that’s why I believe this is a successful ad for Nike because it will make more people

want to buy their products and in turn, would increase their revenue.

The thing that caught my eye in this ad was the colors, the text, and the faded

black effect that covers the basketball court. This also caught my eye because I am a big

basketball fan so anything with a basketball court in it will always catch my attention.

The colors purple and yellow are also eye catchers because you don’t see those colors put

together on an everyday basis, they stand out. Also, I believe that Kobe can wear these

colors to perfection. He is going to be a legend, and I think the color purple has a sign of

“loyalty” within itself and shows that Kobe is loyal to his fans and his team. The color

yellow is bright like the sun; Kobe “shines” like a star every time he is on the court

playing basketball. The wood floor on the court would also catch a basketball fans eye

because it lets them know that it is a specific hardwood floor made specifically for

basketball. The text and the lone man, Kobe Bryant, are in the ad to enhance it even

more. This ad basically describes a legend in basketball history walking around on the

basketball court alone showing that he “owns” the court and it is his get away place. This

grabs my eye just because he is a legend in his “home” walking around in Nike apparel

showing all his fans that he wears Nike.

All in all, this ad has many things that would catch a basketball fanatic’s attention and

would be a great seller for Nike. I believe that this ad would help Nike increase sales just

because of the colors and appearance they used to make the ad. In addition, the fact that

they have a future hall of famer, Kobe Bryant, featured in it wearing Nike apparel also

promotes the ad even more. The marketing in this ad will make it very profitable for Nike

to use to boost their sales.

Procrastination

Procrastination is a problem of which I am a victim. I have placed myself in this predicament one

too many times throughout my high school years. Some of the reasons I procrastinate are related

to my bad habits, being easily distracted, and not recognizing how serious college really is.

Many people have bad habits that they need to get rid of. Most bad habits people have vary from

smoking, drinking, or anything of that sort. As for me, my bad habit is being lazy when it comes

to schoolwork. Whenever I get an important assignment from a teacher that requires more than

one day to finish, I put it off until the last minute. Afterwards, realizing that the assignment that

I knew about a week before is due the next day, I begin to panic and stay up all night finishing

the assignment. While cramming a whole project or paper in one night I get weary and rush to

finish so I can go to sleep for school the next day. Doing this makes my project or paper look

sloppy, although I get a decent grade, I know I could have done a lot better, if I had only made a

greater effort. This has been my pattern throughout my high school career. Looking back, I know

that if I did the assignment earlier and had more time to finish, I would have done much better,

thus making my grade in the class much higher and giving me a sense of satisfaction.

Distraction is one of my main downfalls in school. I’ve had plenty of teachers get onto me about

paying attention in class. Most of the time, I get so distracted that I just fall asleep, which is

really unacceptable. Additionally, when I have an assignment that involves me using the

computer, I continuously get distracted, either play games or log on to Facebook to talk with

friends. This causes me to sit at the computer much longer than I should finishing my work.

Getting distracted is easy for me; this is why I don’t want to go to a huge college where there are

100+ students in one classroom causing me to continuously “people watch.” Being distracted can

Comment [1]: timmyreeck: Need MLA format. Good title

Comment [2]: timmyreeck: Good thesis statement, but can be worded differently.

Comment [3]: timmyreeck: This is a good supportive statement.

Comment [4]: timmyreeck: Run-on sentence, separate these statements.

Comment [5]: timmyreeck: throughout my "entire" high school career.

Comment [6]: timmyreeck: "....Better."

Comment [7]: timmyreeck: Onto is one word.

take away valuable time needed in the classroom and it’s an important problem that I need to fix

for college.

All of these issues mentioned are all disadvantages for college. Getting ready for college is going

to be very difficult for me. This is because of my laziness and getting distracted. In college, you

need to pay attention one hundred percent of the time. With my habits, I’m very afraid that I’m

not going to be very successful in college and I obviously need to make a change. If I continue

with these habits, there is a big possibility that I could flunk out and not be successful in life. Of

course I do not want this to happen, so I will change my habits while I’m in high school. I have

one more semester to improve my performance, and I am going to try not to procrastinate and

change my ways.

Consequently, I would say I have a serious problem when it comes to major assignments

associated with school. I continuously procrastinate everyday and it definitely needs to change

when college comes around. I cannot be lazy and I cannot get distracted. Procrastination affects

many students in many bad ways. I am going to learn from it and change my view of schoolwork

for future college classes, so that I will be successful in life.

Comment [8]: timmyreeck: All of "the" issues mentioned.

Comment [9]: timmyreeck: Not needed in this sentence.

Comment [10]: timmyreeck: This is because I am lazy and I let distractions catch my attention too easily.

Comment [11]: timmyreeck: With the bad habits i have acquired,

Comment [12]: timmyreeck: Take this out.

Comment [13]: timmyreeck: and i need to make a tremendous change.

Comment [14]: timmyreeck: huge.

Comment [15]: timmyreeck: don't.

Comment [16]: timmyreeck: so i will attempt to change my habits with the remaining days of high school left.

Comment [17]: timmyreeck: I cannot let myself get lazy and i need to learn how to block out any kind of distraction.

Comment [18]: timmyreeck: Procrastination affects students in many bad ways, but for my sake, I am going to learn from it and change my view of schoolwork for future college courses so that I will be successful in life.

Timmy Reeck

English 1101 / Redding

Composition 1

5 December 2012

Procrastination

Procrastination is a problem of which I am a victim. I have placed myself in this

predicament one too many times throughout my high school years. I believe the reasons I

procrastinate consist of my bad habits, getting easily distracted, and not recognizing how

serious I need to be about college.

Many people have bad habits that they need to get rid of. Most bad habits people

have vary from smoking, drinking, or anything of that sort. As for me, my bad habit is

being lazy when it comes to schoolwork. Whenever I get an important assignment from a

teacher that requires more than one day to finish, I put it off until the last minute.

Afterwards, realizing that the assignment that I knew about a week before is due the next

day, I begin to panic and stay up all night finishing the assignment. While cramming a

whole project or paper in one night I get weary and rush to finish so I can go to sleep for

school the next day. Doing this makes my project or paper look sloppy. Although I get a

decent grade, I know I could have done a lot better if I had made the effort to take school

seriously. This has been my pattern throughout my entire high school career. Looking

back, I know that if I did the assignment earlier and had more time to finish, I would have

done much better. Thus making my grade in the class much higher and giving me a sense

of satisfaction.

Distraction is one of my main downfalls in school. I’ve had plenty of teachers get

onto me about paying attention in class. Most of the time, I get so distracted that I just fall

asleep, which is really unacceptable. Additionally, when I have an assignment that

involves me using the computer, I continuously get distracted, either play games or log

onto Facebook to talk with friends. This causes me to sit at the computer much longer

than I should finishing my work. Getting distracted is easy for me; this is why I don’t

want to go to a huge college where there are 100+ students in one classroom causing me

to continuously “people watch.” Being distracted can take away valuable time needed in

the classroom and it’s an important problem that I need to fix for college.

All of the issues mentioned are disadvantages for myself for college. Getting

ready for college is going to be very difficult for me. This is because I am lazy and I let

distractions catch my attention too easily. In college, you need to pay attention one

hundred percent of the time. With the bad habits I have acquired, I’m extremely afraid

that I’m not going to be successful in college and I need to make a tremendous change. If

I continue with these habits, there is a huge possibility that I could flunk out and not be

successful in life. Of course I don't want this to happen, so I will attempt to change my

habits with the remaining days of high school left. I have one more semester to improve

my performance, and I am going to try not to procrastinate and change my ways.

Consequently, I would say I have a serious problem when it comes to major

assignments associated with school. I continuously procrastinate everyday and it

definitely needs to change when college comes around. I cannot let myself get lazy and I

need to learn how to block out any kind of distraction that may be happening around me.

Procrastination affects students in many different bad ways, but for my sake, I am going

to learn from what I did in high school and change my view of schoolwork for future

college courses so that I will be successful in life.