Reflection

Kevin Walsh

 

My senior year so far could be categorized as a great failure, for two simple reasons. My year could be considered great, because though I haven’t done particularly well, I’ve learned a lot of what to and not to do on a college campus to allow me to prosper and gain the knowledge needed for each class, while being considered a failure because I didn’t work as hard as I should have and I let my personal life get in the way of my studies, making my grades suffer. My goals this semester were to get at least an 88 in every class, including my high school classes, to get a better shot at getting into Hunter College next year. Though at first I felt that I was going to be able to confidently give 100% effort and finally shine like I could have, I faced many unforeseen adversities, causing my to have periods of moping and questioning myself, taking my focus away from my work, causing a significant drop in my grade. I don’t know what has worked so far because I haven’t done well at all, making not only myself, but everyone around me disappointed, but what hasn’t worked is focusing on my personal problems and making that my priority.

I could see myself most likely going to either a lesser known four-year CUNY, or a community college, but working my way back into the Hunter College campus. I don’t know if I pt myself in too deep of a hole this semester to work my way out of it come spring, but I am extremely determined to get into this school, so no matter what come in my way, I will end up going to Hunter. I plan on achieving this goal by studying hard, finding time for myself, and distancing my studies from my personal life, because as Ms. DeFeo said, “You can’t change your social life, but you are the only one who could change your grades.”

This year, I think that I’ve become a better writer, mainly because of the techniques I’ve learned this year that have really allowed me to improve my fiction writing skills. I still need to work on subtext and leaving out unnecessary details from my stories. I think that significant detail, dialogue, and imagery are techniques that have been easy for me, but techniques such as prose rhythm have been hard for me to utilize in my story. I plan on working on the skills that I’ve had trouble with incorporating in my stories could be improved by getting personal help from my teachers and utilizing the help from the writing center here at the college.

I really have enjoyed writing my sudden fiction piece because I’ve always enjoyed creative writing I haven’t exactly found the reason why, but I’ve always enjoyed letting my imagination loose and connecting to my characters. To be a successful writer, I need to be able to take as much pride in my essay and general writing pieces, such as reaction papers, to be a better, more well rounded writer.

By the end of the year, I hope to be a full fledged fiction writer. I believe that I have the tools and imagination to write great works of fiction, but I need to work on mastering the necessary tools and techniques to become the best writer I could be. What I hope to gain from this whole program in general is the tools I need to have in order to succeed in the real world. So far I’ve demonstrated quite clearly that I’m not ready for all the responsibilities that come with being an adult, but hopefully by the end of the year, I’ll have a better sense of how to be an independent person and succeed on my own.

Finally, my portfolio represents me as a person and student because a lot of my work is late and unfinished, making me struggle to finish all of the work by the deadline, something that I’ve had a habit of doing during my whole high school tenure.