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Hamm 1

Raquel Hamm
Professor Azeem
English 114B

Reflection Essay
I believe I've grown as a writer because previously from taking this course, I
thought that writing essays was the worst thing in the world. Mostly because I was so
terrified of them. I was always afraid that I wouldn't have anything to say or to back up
my thesis or even to create a thesis; kind of like writer's block. I can't say a time, prior to
taking this class, that I was ever proud of my essay work. Of course, feeling that way
towards my work, made me not do so well and the sole reason I didn't pass the ELM test
before attending CSUN. The consequence of not passing required me to take a writing
class over the summer of 2014 and two semesters of "Approaches to University Writing"
to better prepare my writing skills for college English literature. I used to feel behind
because I wasn't taking a college level English course, but I'm grateful for the chance to
expand my writing creativity and feel like I'm just as good of a writer than anyone else.
One of my proudest essays is from last semester of fall 2014. We had to write
about something visual (either a video, ad, or picture) that goes into depth about
something critical in the society we live in. I chose a picture from Google of three faces
that were three shades of African American women (light-tone, medium-tone, and darktone). The title of my paper was called "The Raw Truth of the African American
Community". It addressed my concern on how not only society, but also individuals of

the African American community viewed the lack of communication from African
Americans, which made US depict each other of our skin-tones. This paper has made me
so proud because I, not growing up in a neighborhood around people of my color, made
me feel culturally disconnected. I never realized until I came to CSUN. Therefore, this
paper has effectively expanded my mind for the African American culture. In other
words, believing that I was once disconnected didn't allow me to grow. Although, after
developing better writing skills has increased my passion for the African American
community. I truly believe that writing about a topic that youre passionate about will
result in a more detailed, more interesting, and more informative paper or anything.
I can't even begin to not give credit when it's due. Due to the fact that I couldn't
have overcome any of this writer's block without the help of Professor Wafa Azeem. She
has truly helped me by opening her office hours at the times shes given to my classmates
and I, by encouraging me to present one of my papers at a conference in front of people,
and inspired me with her constructive critiques and revising skills. Speaking of
presenting at a conference, I did just that. I presented the essay that just wrote previously,
called The Raw Truth of the African American Community. Not only can I add
presenting at a conference to my resume, it has increased my oral communication, public
speaking skills, and the courage to take risks. From this point on, I plan to use the skills
Ive developed from Professor Azeem and this class as a base for my future work.

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