As much as I try, I cannot remember my earliest writing assignment. Instead, I remember the numerous afternoons and evenings spent at my kitchen table with either my mother or my grandmother as we, together, edited my work. Although having a grandmother whom is a retired magazine editor and a mother who is a writer has its pluses, one can imagine how tedious the activity of writing can become. The two of us, or even sometimes three, would agonize over sentence formation, punctuation, and the endless in and outs of my assignment. Although, after completing my first draft, this was the part of my work, which I would dread, I was always pleased with the end results. Eventually, after years of work, I picked up many of the editing techniques and writing styles of my mother and it has allowed me to do that tedious step on my own. Although still mind numbing, at least it is my pencil marks and cross outs which guide me through the writing process. I have become even more proud and more satisfied with my final products. Since about eighth grade, writing has been the part of my schoolwork that I have continually succeeded in. While I perform average on quizzes and tests, the scores I have received on my writing have been consistent as well as satisfactory. This has resulted in my enthusiasm regarding writing assignments especially those of a topic, which interests me. Yet, if I had to pick the two turning points of my writing they would most definitely be in eighth grade and tenth grade.

Although I was not fond of my eighth grade English teacher, he was determined to connect to us on a personal level as well as force us to make improvements in our writing. He proved to me that, despite what I thought, I was above the caliber of many of my classmates at that time which, naturally, made me feel special. He gave us the freedom to chose to read books which were on our own level and applied to our own individual interests and, thus, many of our writing assignments were about things that we were either emotionally attached to or, simply, liked. I saw how my writing could blossom when given individual attention as well as how a push in confidence can give one the motivation that they need to succeed.

After travelling through ninth grade and writing, besides my two honors projects, maybe three papers all year, I became apprehensive of tenth grade filled with Ms. Gokturk’s numerous writing assignments as well as our weekly "critiques" in AP European History. Yet, as usual, I was simply freaking myself out. In my first semester English class I was given the opportunity to write about personal things. Aside from our journals, which I welcomed as a way of getting things off my chest, there were narratives as well as other short personal essays, which amazed me at how I could start writing and soon later have numerous pages of writing that I was proud of. More importantly, I truly enjoyed the writing. In history, I received that same special attention as the year before. I felt like my teacher was genuinely interested in what I was writing and helping me work on my weaker areas such as condensing my writing as well as omitting unnecessary words. He also welcomed my passion regarding certain areas and my drive to improve. I wrote a twenty-page research paper; with a thesis I developed and put an endless amount of work into, and I loved it. It was a topic, which I am incredibly interested in and became something that I am still extremely proud of. In those months, I saw a dramatic change in the maturity of my writing and concluded the year feeling that I had truly went beyond my own expectations and goals.

I chose this class, not only because I knew one of the teachers J but also because I knew that writing is an area that I not only enjoy, but something that I know, from past experience, that it is always possible and that I am eager to improve in.