In my perception, writing comes naturally since everyone can write, but very few can write in a manner that can be regarded as good writing.

From the onset of the class, the goals were clear. We set out to discover and explore how our writing abilities could be improved upon to result in being able to create, construct, clear and concise theses that are supported by sources documentation and other sources to present ideas. I must admit that I have always had the idea that good writers are born, and going through the course, I have realized that good writers are made. From the skills taught in class on how to read, take notes, reflect on what I have read, and in the long run form concepts ideas and shape them into something presentable and revising to ensure that all concerns and purposes have been shared in my writing has indeed been a journey.

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Throughout the class, I learned a lot too much to highlight from Percy, Jennifer's "My Terrifying Night with Afghanistan's Only Female Warlord," Mary Pratts's "Arts of the Contact Zone," and more. I got a chance to study the techniques that make up a good article. From the use of ICE-ICE, how to narrate a story like in Percy's article, I learned of the importance of immersing the reader in the story where I felt like I was on a journey with her. One of the biggest take-ups away from reading the articles was the importance of knowing where or how to start a story, for it is the crucial part in capturing a reader's attention or losing it.​ 

"The Question of Where We Begin" by Minor, helped me in my writing, for I always struggled when starting to write about anything.

In some cases, I could spend more than two hours trying to figure out where to start, which now is a thing of the past, for I have an approach to getting things started. What I mean by this is that students might not get all of the assignments that they need to get done so they will receive the grade of “not yet” (Dweck, 2014). 

 

Some of the skills that I have realized that I need to keep working on and improving on them are my comprehension, communication, identification, and technological skills. As I progressed through the class, I realized that there is still more to learn when it comes to writing, as this was influenced by Berehulak Daniel's article "They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals." I must admit it was tuff for me to grasp what was going on in the Philippines, being an American with the same drug pandemic around, but it is not being handled as severely as it is in the Philippines. Upon reflecting on the article, I tried to put myself into the author's shoes and asked myself if I could do such brave writing. Could I comprehend the situation a graphicas it was? Communicate the story to my audience while identifying problems, solutions, and reasoning behind the actions taking place in the article. The merging up of these components for me are the marks of good writing that I have chosen to follow through in my writing path. The pictures that Berehulak and Percy shared in their articles also opened my eyes to the massive impact that photographs and the use of technology can have in telling a story.

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In conclusion, I got to reap the full benefits of the W131 class when I got to do my immersion experience. honestly, I  never knew I could write as well as I did in my immersion experience.

Form the research of credible sources to the hands-on experience to bake a New York style cheese case. The use of all I had learned from the course, from where to start, which was a call, to the immersion of the reader in my experience, I can say that my writing will never be the same, and all was made possible by the W131 class that I know will come I handy in future years to come.