Reflection To A Great Semester

“Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world,” these are the wise spoken words of Nelson Mandela. Coming into this class I was not enthusiastic about having to take “another Gen-Ed English course”. But of course that was before I met Professor Brady and her inspiring energy and passion for literature. Every class day her lectures and fishbowls required us to critically think which I was not trained to do in any other college course yet as a freshman. Throughout her intellectual lectures I was able to expand my knowledge on not only literature but also about the world around us. Reading literature out of the Norton Literature textbook wasn’t simply a homework assignment that I needed to complete in order to write a paper, but it was a way to slice pieces away from being ignorant to the situations and predicaments occurring around the world and a way to acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

My writing before this English 102 class was simply to regurgitate information from a scholarly article and to paraphrase it to fulfill the requirements of my professor. All of that changed when I entered Professor Brady’s class. I can remember outlining my first published writing; I reached a barrier in which I did not know what to write about. All of the published writing’s, including the papers, required us to critically think, not only as a student, but also as a human being part of this world. They required us to analytically read the plays, shorts stories, and poems therefore enhancing our critical thinking and interpreting skills. Another aspect that helped me grow as a reader and writer were the discussion panels and fishbowls. The fishbowls allowed for on “the spot analytical thinking” and comprehension throughout the course.

I really enjoyed the short-story unit because I appreciate literature in a sense that I can relate to it. As a little girl I learned English at the age of 5 and used reading as a way to improve my vocabulary and enhance my reading skills and in turn that made me appreciate reading each and every year and become my form of an outlet. The idea that will truly resonate with me throughout my college career and experience is the fact that “literature is a product of its time period” and that oppression continues occur throughout the world. It has made me realize how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to expand and further my education. As a thinker I see myself going to dental school in five years and I have sanguine expectations that with this intro to critical and analytical thinking I will prosper in dental school and hopefully in life.