Looking back on my English 101 experience, I have come to the conclusion that I learned many new things that improved my abilities as a writer. I learned new techniques that improved the way I approach an essay. I learned all about rhetorical appeals and how to apply them in my writing and how to look for them in an essay an author wrote. I also learned how to argue both sides of an argument, research reliable sources, and correctly cite and locate the essay author. I feel like I have become a better writer and my improved writing skills are demonstrated in each essay. When I first signed up for English 101 at Soar, I thought it was more of a reading and comprehension course than a writing course. On August 19th, the first day of class, I learned that this class was the opposite of what I thought and it made me super nervous. I have never had to write so many long essays in a short period of time. When I entered the class, I considered myself a writer who needed a lot of work. I knew my writing needed work because of my high school English teachers, they once told me that my writing needed a lot of work and was not college material. This statement came true once I received my first essay grade and feedback from my professor. I was still stuck in the five-paragraph mindset of high school and didn't know how to write a clear thesis statement. For example, in my first essay, I didn't have a clear thesis because I was only briefly taught how to write one in my last year of high school. I had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to pass this class. Throughout the semester, I discovered all the different resources offered here on campus...... middle of paper. ....more for me. For example, I gave more details about my parents' divorce and how I felt instead of stating what most children felt after and during the divorce, as I did in my first version . I also changed my image to one showing my family instead of using the image I first found on Google, which showed a girl looking out the window while it was raining. I found my second essay, The Day That Changed Everything, to be the easiest essay to write and revise. I thought this was the easiest because I felt like I had a good story to tell with lots of little details that could be added to make the essay stronger. critical reflection on an essay/article I read. However, after taking English 101, I have now learned that it is both one of my strengths and one of my weaknesses..