ALYSSA K.

Since I was a little girl, I have always found comfort in reading and writing. Writing has also been something equally important to me, and something that I have done quite frequently in my undergraduate academic career. Because of this, English classes were usually very enjoyable to me. Contradictory to this relationship I have with books and writing, I was not particularly excited about the fact that I had to take English 2089, if I am to be honest here. Before I step foot into the classroom I read the syllabus and it looked no better or worse than other classes I had taken at the University of Cincinnati. If anything, I was comforted by the fact that the assignments were based entirely on writing, which is something I enjoy very much. But I wasn’t excited because I thought I would have to write about static topics or things that weren’t interesting to me. However, I was very wrong about this. I was very wrong about this because what I had failed to realize about the English 2089 composition course was that it would be a necessary and beneficiary challenge to my development as a writer, but also cathartic in my development as a person. 

​

The greatest challenge I faced in these respects was also the first assignment that we were required to do in English 2089, the Personal Narrative Essay. This required that we write entirely about ourselves and something we feel we are literate, or proficient at. Truthfully, I was nervous and stressed about this because it had never been required of me before. That is, I knew I was skillful in being able to analyze literature, and write passive research papers, but not writing about myself. This is where I was first challenged to be flexible as a writer, as this narrative style was something completely out of my comfort zone. Because of this, I had serious doubts about my ability to do well on the assignment and expressed distrust in myself. I think even Professor Vaughn was quite tired of hearing my nervousness and uncertainty throughout my writing process. Despite my reluctance to write about and explain parts of myself, I think this assignment was one of the most cathartic things I have ever been required to do; because of this, I felt the narrative essay was my best writing and favorite assignment.

​

This class was crucial in my development in the University Honors Program. It asked me to step outside of myself through the assignments in the class. These also included a Comparative Genre Essay, and a Ethnographic Research Essay. It was additionally important because by learning how to write in different ways I was learning more about myself, outside of the information I was learning about in my academic majors. I am so grateful that I was able to take this class, and to grow as a person from it. I have additionally included the essays I wrote for this class below. 

​

-Alyssa