Dear Reader

Although I have been through college programs before, I am now completing English 98, the first college class of many on my journey to becoming a nurse. I spent most of my late twenties working in various jobs trying to find one that suited my abilities and personality. I kept finding myself in jobs where I did well, but I did not feel my job meant anything. I wanted a career that I had a passion for. Through all of my searching, nursing found me. I had previously completed a personal trainer program at Ashmead College which led into my jobs at therapy clinics. Although I enjoyed this work, I realized that I really wanted to work in a hospital setting. I took the first step and got certified as a nursing assistant through Edmonds Community College. I have been working in assisted living facilities as a nursing assistant for three years now and am ready to take the next step in my career toward a degree in Nursing. Completing this course has allowed me to see that a Nursing degree is attainable for me!

I struggled at the beginning of this course thinking that I may be one of the oldest members of the class and knowing that partially because of that, my computer skills may not be up to par for an online class. I have gradually felt more successful throughout this course though! Not only have my computer skills improved, but I have realized that although I have never considered myself a successful student, I can be. The feedback I have received from my classmates and professor has helped me identify my strengths and areas for improvement in writing. I have learned that I enjoy expressing myself through writing. I have found that I am easily able to put my voice into my writing and my sentence structure has improved, but I still need to work on organizing.

Besides my growth in the area of writing, another important element to this course was my growth as a contributing member of my community. While reading Three Cups of Tea and volunteering at the VOA food bank in Everett, I found myself thinking deeper about the meaning of choices I make in my life. I know that the self-reflection I have made based off of those experiences is much deeper now than it would have been for me years ago. In this respect, I am glad I am one of the older members in the class since I think I am able to take more away from this as a thirty something. Finally, I have learned more about the great skill of time management. Though I have never had too much trouble getting done what I need to, working full time and attending college classes definitely requires lots of energy and planning ahead!

To illustrate the growth I have made this quarter, I have chosen four writing pieces to include in my portfolio from various stages of my learning in this course. The selected pieces highlight my strengths as well as showcase revisions I have made as my writing has improved this quarter. The first piece I have chosen was our first major writing assignment, the compare and contrast paper. In this paper, I compared and contrasted crossover vehicles to traditional sports utility vehicles. Next, I am including a piece that shows my ability to write clearly with a variety of sentence structures and word choice. This piece was titled “Janet and Brad’s Excelled Adventure” in our assignment, but I have titled my piece “The Dark and Unknown.” I have included another major writing assignment, my argument paper, which shows my ability to write analytically. This paper proves that college football should change their way of determining the national champion from the current bowl championship series to a fairer and practical playoff system. Finally, I have selected my “Inventory of Being” piece for my writer’s choice. This was my first piece in English 98, so I thought it would be fun to come back and revise it using the skills I have learned this quarter. I also like the way this piece shows my ability to write effectively, while introducing myself.

Please enjoy my great works of writing!