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     If I am being completely honest, I was expecting this English class to be like every other English class I took in high school: you read some literature, you analyze it, and you learn the same things you have been learning since the ninth grade. It was quite repetitive and all the same all the time. However, this class was not at all what I had expected, in the absolute best of ways because it opened my eyes to a whole new world of english. Not only did I enjoy the conversations and assignments we did, but I was able to gain a new perspective from the students I interacted with.

     What I learned in this course has turned out to be more beneficial than I thought it would be. Of course, all the English classes I took in high school were beneficial for my basic literary and analyzation skills, but not like this class. There was something about the assignments that we did that had a greater impact on me as a student. The concept of taking a community you are passionate about, or want to involve yourself with proved to an extremely mind-opening experience for me. Not only did it allow me to think more in depth about the community I myself was involved in, but I got to learn about communities from students who I probably would have never spoken to if the class wasn’t structured the way that it was. The chance to have our paper sent to our response groups, presenting out project ideas and receiving feedback, giving an elevator pitch, and showcasing out project 3, really helped me open my mind to all the different communities my peers were involved in. What I have noticed about being in college is that you don’t typically get to know the students in your classes, especially in large lecture environments. In this class, however, I felt like I was given the opportunity to get to know some really incredible students based in the communities they represented and showed me. I think that because I got to interact more closely with the students around me not only because our class was small, but because our assignments were more intimate, I was able to be more mentally involved in the learning experience this class provided me with.

     I have always had a passion for writing, but always struggled with writing narratively. My experience was always either journalistic or based on research, so having to transition to a different style of writing was a little bit of a challenge at first. However, I enjoyed the challenge. I think it was really beneficial to step outside of my comfort zone and try out a new writing style for once. UI actually thoroughly enjoyed all three projects. Being able to find a community and write about what it meant to me and why I would want to share it with the world was quite the humbling experience for me, especially since my community was one that has had a very large impact on my everyday life as it taught me to not be afraid of speaking my mind and using the power of my own voice, as well as educating others about theirs.

     The fact that this wasn’t your average English class made it that much more enjoyable for me. Even though this was possibly my last English class for a while, I will absolutely take a lot of the things I learned here throughout the rest of my college experience. I really appreciate all the knowledge you shared with us and the impact you made on my life as a student and a human being because you really should a passion for assisting your students in doing the best they could possibly do. That is really hard to find sometimes, but you really did make an impact on my education and how I will experience college. Having the opportunity to share my community with others who may not have known about it, hear about communities from my peers that I was new to, and experience them through their eyes was an incredible experience because I think that perspective is something very hard to come by. I hope that I can continue to learn about the communities my peers are involved in and learn about their experiences. Thank you for an incredible class and I certainly plan on coming into your office hours to say hi. I hope you have an incredible summer. Thank you for everything.