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I had a few successes in my different college classes, but two that stood out where an essay I wrote in my English 1A class and my final project in my Elementary Photography class.
The assignment in my English class was to write an essay about Reyna Grande's book The Distance Between Us and to show how it achieves to be both an example of a Counter-Story and of Change Writing. It had been over a decade since I wrote my last essay and I could hardly remember what the structure should be and what it should include. I listened to my professor and tried different strategies that she suggested. I formed a research question, then a thesis statement and started my research. I used notecards where I wrote all the main points from my research on that I possibly could include in my essay. On the back of the cards I wrote my thoughts and ideas regarding each point. This really proofed to be an immense help as I later only needed to consult my cards, sort them after ideas and decided which ones to use and which ones not to use. This made the process so much easier as I did not need to refer back to all the different sources. After I had written the first full draft, I submitted my essay to SmartThinking as my professor had suggested. At the same time I send it to a friend of mine, who was nice enough to read through it. They gave me valuable feedback on what I could approve and more importantly why. I then made my final edits and read through my essay one last time, which is something i also had not done before. Basically I used to turn in drafts. The result: I got 95% in this essay! I was so surprised and felt proud of my work. I did not expect such a good great. It showed that my hard work had paid off and also that it can be really beneficial to listen to the tips a professor provides. |
Another project I am extremely proud of and that means a lot to me is my final project in my 35mm Black and White Photo class - Ambiguity Project.
In the beginning I thought that it would be the project I enjoy the least, mainly because I did not quite know what to do. After talking to my professor and finding out I could rephotograph images an idea started to form. I asked my father to send me old photographs of my mum, who had passed away ten years ago. Once I received them, I scanned the photographs, enlarged them, printed them out and cut them out. It almost felt like scrapbooking. I enjoyed the slow, manual process as a lot of work and energy went into producing the photographs. I then created new images of my mum in my surroundings today. It was like creating new memories together. It was a very personal project and turned out to be my favorite one as well.
Without the assignment prompt and our professor wanting us to explore something different, these photographs would have never been created. Without his encouragement I would probably not have followed through with the idea. I started believing in my idea, followed my heart and created something purely for myself and not to meet the expectations of someone else.
It turned out to be my best work of the semester and the photographs are now hanging in my home.
In the beginning I thought that it would be the project I enjoy the least, mainly because I did not quite know what to do. After talking to my professor and finding out I could rephotograph images an idea started to form. I asked my father to send me old photographs of my mum, who had passed away ten years ago. Once I received them, I scanned the photographs, enlarged them, printed them out and cut them out. It almost felt like scrapbooking. I enjoyed the slow, manual process as a lot of work and energy went into producing the photographs. I then created new images of my mum in my surroundings today. It was like creating new memories together. It was a very personal project and turned out to be my favorite one as well.
Without the assignment prompt and our professor wanting us to explore something different, these photographs would have never been created. Without his encouragement I would probably not have followed through with the idea. I started believing in my idea, followed my heart and created something purely for myself and not to meet the expectations of someone else.
It turned out to be my best work of the semester and the photographs are now hanging in my home.