Essay One
When in high school the teachers and administration always said they were preparing us for college. However when it comes down to it, were they really doing just that? Every high school experience is going to be different depending on who you talk to, and the level of preparedness is going to be different depending on what school you go to. My high school experience did not prepare me for college because my school was too dependent on technology, the teachers would keep students sheltered, and the size of my school didn’t compare to college.
My high school was really dependent on technology with all the work that had to be completed. In math classes the teachers taught us how to complete problems using calculators. My first wake up call in college was when I found out that calculators were not permitted for use in my Math 103 class. My entire life I had been dependent on calculators to complete simple math problems that I had not learned to do without. Another example would be when writing essays for classes and teachers would require us to email the final draft to them. If my computer would crash or the email did not go through then the issue would be on myself and the teacher would give no sympathy at times. That was a time when being dependent on technology did not worked well for me in the end, because if I had to write the essay out on pen and paper I would know nothing bad could happen to it. Even though teachers would make us take responsibility for our technology crashing they would still shelter us throughout the rest of class.
All throughout high school I was sheltered in a way by my teachers. The teachers would remind us about quizzes, tests, homework, and other upcoming events dealing with the class. When I reached college and the professors just gave out a syllabus and I realized there were not going to be reminders, I was in a sense of shock. For the first time my education was 100 percent all on me, I would not be able to rely on my professors to remind me about everything. Another thing that high school teachers do to shelter us is help us on every little thing. Half the time in high school some of my teachers would basically complete a homework assignment for me if I were asking questions. In college the professors have so many students they do not have the time for this. The size of the classes are upped and students are on their own to go to office hours for questions.
My high school had about 2,500 people, where as Old Dominion University has about 25,000 students. The size different of the schools really surprised me and I was not prepared for not knowing everyone in all my classes. The size of the school and having to walk everywhere was a very different experience at first. I did not realize how different going from a public high school in a suburban area to a public college in a city area would be. In high school they do not really tell you about how different the classes are going to be in college because of not knowing everyone and the size of the classes.
Overall my high school experience did not prepare me adequately for college. I thought I knew what to expect until I actually reached college. Once I got to college I realized how sheltered and babied I was by the teachers, how dependent on technology I was in my classes, and how the size of the school would affect me and my classes.
Essay Two
Language barriers are apart of student’s everyday life in classes. Walking down the streets of Old Dominion University one can hear many different dialects, accents, and slang words used in everyday sentences. Language is how people communicate with others. However, from different majors to teachers from different countries language can be a major barrier when trying to communicate. Classes, students, and teachers will have many language barriers when attending such a diverse university such as Old Dominion.
If a student asks a biology major about mitosis or meiosis they should understand what the other is talking about and be able to explain it to them. If another student in a different major is asked about the same subject that student however may not be able to go into depth about it. This is a language barrier even if it does not seem like it because the vocabulary is different and the words can mean different things for different classes. Language barriers are a huge conflict between classes and between different majors when speaking about subjects not within their majors. Not only are there language barriers between classes and majors but also between the students within the classes.
Students themselves cause language barriers when speaking to others with the use of different slang terms and context of the words. Students at Old Dominion University come from all around the country and some are even from around the world. With such a diverse culture there is for sure bound to be different slang terms used between students. If one student eaves dropped on different conversations around campus then they would probably hear slang terms they do not understand. This does cause language barriers between students on campus and could potentially cause them to not want to go out of their comfort zone and meet new people. Language barriers between students could potentially be the reason someone doesn’t make any new friends, because they might not understand what their slang terms mean.
The teachers at Old Dominion University are just about as diverse as the students are. Certain teachers come from all over the world and can make it hard to understand them during lectures or just speaking to them one on one. This can be because of their different accents or the different use of vocabulary within their classrooms. This language barrier can make it harder for the students to get the information they need to pass their classes. Sometimes this type of language barrier can cause many different problems such as not being able to understand what is going on.
Overall language barriers are a thing many students adapt to for their everyday life at Old Dominion University. There are many different causes for language barriers and ways they can be overcome but all together the language barriers are also what keeps the university so diverse. From language barriers in the classes, between the students, and between the teachers there is always something keeping others from being able to communicate with each other however they will be able to get over it.
Reflective Essay
Writing was never one of my strong suits in high school. My English teachers all tried to help me improve but since I was not interested in the subject I did not put that much effort into improving. This quickly came back to hurt me in college preventing me from being able to enter English 110. When first entering University 150 I was not sure what to expect but I knew I was dreading a class where writing was the main purpose.
In my first essay it was evident that I had a lot to improve on. The essay was very unorganized and had many grammatical errors. This essay was just like the essays I had produced in high school that let me earn a grade of C’s and B’s. I quickly realized that I needed to change my writing style and try to improve because this was not going to work for the college level. My first essay showed me where I was and that was not where I wanted it to be.
The second essay I had written had improved from the first significantly. The main thing I focuses on in this essay was my organization. I planned out the essay and worked on making the paragraphs flow more. I made sure my thoughts were clear and I had all my points in order before submitting my final draft. The second essay I wrote was the bar of where I knew I wanted to be at the worst essay I wrote.
By the third essay I wrote was by far my best essay out of the four. I worked on grammatical errors in this essay and continued to improve on my organization skills. I took the peer edit more seriously this time so I could get rid of as many errors as possible in this essay. I earned my highest grade on this essay and I was very proud of it. I took the most time on it to make sure I was still improving from the last essay. My goal while writing this essay was to keep my grammatical errors under ten and to work on my transitions from essay to essay. I feel like I was able to accomplish both of these goals which is why this is my favorite essay I wrote.
Overall I believe taking this class was a blessing in disguise. Even though at the start of the year I was upset about having to take it, this class really helped me improve on my writing skills and bring them up to the collegiate level. I believe this class was the best thing that has happened to my studies since college. I am now more confident in my writing skills and feel prepared and ready to take on English 110 next semester.