Jingyu Zhang

9/16/2019

FIQWS 10105

Reflection paper #1

    Last week I finished the Diagnostic/Introductory Essay which is the first essay of this semester. I was surprised when I saw the requirement is 1500 words. I never wrote a essay for so many words. I thought that I can not finish the essay absolutely, that was difficult for me to write and I had no idea.

    Before I started to write, I read the requirements and Didion’s essay carefully and wrote the outline of the essay. I listed my experiences of living in New York and how did my thoughts change about New York. Before I came to New York, I felt excited. When I arrived, I felt lonely and disappointed because it was different from what I imagined. After I went to school and made some friends, I changed my thoughts again and I thought that New York was an interesting city. 

    I started to write the essay at the night. At first, I did not know how to write the beginning of the essay. Also I did not know how to write the essay with a good structure. I sat there and felt nervous. Finally, I wrote the beginning of the essay, it became easier to wrote the rest part. I think it is not difficult to relate to Didion’s essay because I can understand her as a person who just moved to New York. I sat at the table from 9:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M. and finished the essay. At that time, I felt the great success. 

As an immigrant, English is my second language. There are many problems for me. For example, I need more time to read an article than others. I have to put more efforts to learn. I faced many difficulties when I wrote the essay. First of all, I do not know how to write with a good structure.  I heard something about the structure from the class, but I do not understand clearly. When I wrote the essay, I could not use many complex words or sentences. I just used the simple words and sentences. I think that is a problem of my writing. Also, I am not good at grammar. There are many mistakes of the grammar in my essay. After I finished the first draft, I went to the Pal Center and there was a teacher helped me to correct my grammar mistakes. I learned some grammar from the teacher in Pal Center.

    After I submitted the essay, I felt fulfilling about the first essay in college. It was the first time to write an essay for 1500 words. I am not a good writer, I always have no inspiration when I write. Even though the topic that writing about experiences of ourselves in New York is easier than other essays, finishing the essay gives me self-confidence and it makes me feel that writing essay is not that fearful. Additionally, I think I should learn more vocabulary words and grammar with struggle to write a better essay.