Reflection #3

As a college writer, I have learned that there is always room for improvement.  I found that I never knew how my paper actually sounded until I read it aloud and had someone else look over it as well. Throughout WIFYS I did struggle in certain places, but everyone does.  No one can ever write perfectly.  Whether it dealt with the research portion of the paper, the use of certain types of sentences or just transitions between paragraphs, it seemed as if I was always forgetting to do something.  There are many steps and procedures one has to take in order for his or her writing to actually sound professional.  I think now that the semester is winding down and Thanksgiving and Christmas are both around the corner, I am becoming lazy and not concentrating as much on the studies as what I should be.  I think many students are in the same boat as me though.  As far as grammar goes, I have always been pretty strong with it, but there are a couple errors from time to time.  Sometimes even I have to go back and reread a sentence multiple times; but I'm glad I catch it before the reader or professor does.  In my high school, we always used APA format or some sort of format that starts with an A.  We never really used MLA format, so it took some time to refresh it in my brain and learn the techniques and steps again.  When it comes to citing my work, I learned that introducing the author(s) of the article before I state their quote or opinion often times makes the writing sound a lot stronger and supported.  I learned that giving my opinion about a certain quote or  topic helps lengthen the paper a good bit which is always helpful.  Recently in my "Pay for Play" (college athletes should be paid) paper, I used many quotes directly from both text and online sources.  I supported these quotes by offering my opinion to help get the readers attention and to help the reader better understand where the author is coming from with his or her statement.  It is extremely important to use these skills and continue to learn and practice them.  Why?  Because this is not the last time we will use them.  Writing helps everything in daily life.  It helps speech, creativity in the mind, and much more.  I know that I will have to use all of the skills sometime soon in the future.