Nick Jost
Mat Wenzel
July 31, 2019
ENC 2135
Final Reflection
Overall, this class has taught me a lot with regards to research and genre. I think it was imperative that I took this class in the summer so that I could learn how to properly conduct college level research before taking any other classes that would require this type of work. I am glad that I was able to complete so much work that helped me learn more about myself and the Catholic Student Union. This place really made me feel at home and that I could be myself there.
My inquiry project was very interesting to me since I could learn more about the CSU and my religion. Since I was planning on joining the Union anyways, the project helped me get a general idea of the community firsthand, from someone who had a big role in the CSU. This community was overall very impressive, and I found myself more and more engaged as the days went on. My interview with Jae was helpful not only with informing me about the Union, but also with how they can make the Union a better experience and how they help our local area. I fell in love with the church, St. Thomas More. From the smell of the incense to the amazing stained-glass windows, there is not much to complain about the church. The meetings were always fun to attend, and I always looked forward to going so I could deepen my faith and meet new people. My favorite thing about the Union is the trips they take, ranging from retreats to mission trips and to day trips on the holidays. Although I have not been on any of the trips yet, I am definitely looking forward to attending these trips in the fall. I can tell I will be taking part in this community until I graduate from FSU. I also appreciate that the CSU is able to incorporate prayer and Scripture into almost everything that they take part in.
As for our other big project of the semester, we had to write a personal narrative about one of our life experiences. When I heard about the summary of the personal narrative assignment, I immediately knew what I was going to write about. Once Mat mentioned that we should include “somewhere where we felt heard,” I immediately knew what I wanted to write about. The first thing that came to my mind when I heard those words was my soccer team from senior year in high school. I did not find it hard at all to think of anything to write about this topic because I was very passionate about it in high school and I had a lot to say about it. I believe that this was the best possible thing for me to write about, not only because I was so passionate about it, but because I am able to recall almost every detail from that season so well as if it had just happened yesterday. My coach’s speech from the championship game is what I remember very vividly because it was so emotional for the team and it was even emotional to write about all of these months later. As soon as I sat down with my laptop, I started clacking away at my keyboard, typing everything that came to mind.
At first, I wrote my narrative sort of incorrect. Instead of being a full-on story, my narrative was more like an essay at certain parts and other parts of it just gave too much unnecessary information. When I had my conference with Mat, he told me what I did correctly and what I should fix in order to make it seem more like a narrative and less like an essay. After this conference, I knew exactly what to do to make my narrative how it should have been. After revising my narrative further, it now is truly a story told naturally in the first person through my perspective. I believe that the way I used imagery and described not only what was going on but who was doing what and appealed to the different senses, was done well.
Overall, I believe that this was one of the best possible classes I could take as one of my first at FSU. I learned a lot more than I could have imagined and I had a great teacher to see almost every day to teach me how to be successful in the class and beyond.