Kennedy Buchanan

Professor L. Moore

English 1301-HON

6 December 2019

Reflection

This semester I was lucky enough to be selected for the Alvin Community College

Honors program, thus giving me the opportunity to take Honors courses like English-1301-HON.

I was a bit apprehensive about this course at first, because I was afraid it would be too

challenging for me. Although the assignments were next-level, Professor Moore made this class

very fun and interesting. This semester I have learned a lot about college and how to be a

successful student. From this Englsh class alone, I have learned an immense amount of writing

skills. Before this class, I considered myself an average writer, but after this semester I truly feel

confident in my writing ability. This class has taught me how to successfully conduct research,

how to properly use in-text citations, how to effectively discover bias, and how to adequately

analyze text.

In my first essay this semester, I struggled with in-text citations and embedding research.

Through peer reviews and conferences with Professor Moore, I have nearly perfected these tasks.

Also, through this first essay I learned how to adequately find bias in the public media. Before

this semester I never realized how important is it to be able to do this. Being able to spot bias in

everyday life makes it easier for a person to clearly understand the world around them and

effectively communicate with others.

 In the second project of the semester, I learned how to create a podcast (and I actually

enjoyed it!). Stepping out of my comfort zone and creating this podcast was very eye-opening for

me. This project taught me that if I put nervousness and embarrassment to the side, I can

accomplish anything. This project also taught me to look for bias within documentaries, movies,

and t.v. shows, which is something I have never done before. Looking back at my paper, I had a

few grammatical or typing errors, but I believe that was due to me rushing to finish. Overall, this

project helped me be able to properly search library databases for information, how to spot bias

in entertainment media, and how to create a strong podcast.

In the third and final project this semester I learned how to create a piece of visual

propaganda (which was more difficult than I imagined). In addition, I learned how to create and

publish a website. I am so grateful that I learned all of these tools during my first semester in

college because from now on if I ever need to use them, I will know exactly how to do it.

At first I was intimidated by this class, considering it was Honors. I was worried that I

would have to read huge books and write long papers. I thought it would be horrible. The

outcome was the complete opposite. In this class I learned far more than I ever thought I would.

I met new people and went outside of my comfort zone. This class allowed me to express my

creativity while also learning something new everyday. I will take each technique that I learned

in this course with me into other classrooms to help me succeed. This semester was a great way

to start off my college career and it only makes me more excited for what’s to come in the

future!