With the click of a button, I signed up on CUNY Schedule Builder to participate in the ENGL 21002 class which I had no prior knowledge of what it entailed. The professor slot contained the word “staff” as I picked the schedule which worked best for my time. With the reveal of Professor Dalton teaching my class, and his amazing reviews on Rate My Professor, I decided to keep my schedule. Going into the class I obtained an understanding that I was not a student who thrived in my writing skills, yet I needed to complete many formal writing assignments for my education. I wrote for educational purposes only and to receive a strong grade, yet found no interest in the strength of my writing skills. While participating in my ENGL 21002 class with Professor Dalton from 9:30-10:45 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I learned to develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes along with formulating and articulating a stance throughout my stories. 

With the class beginning at 9:30 am, my classmates and I obtained a routine to participate in our class’s freewriting sessions. Each morning we got a few minutes to write about any given thought inside of our heads, with only a few days obtaining prompts given by the professor. On January 3rd, one of the first days of my Social Sciences class, I talked about receiving a hard call regarding my Grandpa’s health. With this on my mind, I described how “I walked back from the library after my long journey just not to receive the book in which I needed. I walk up the hill feeling my leg muscles tighten due to the gym two days prior. I breathe, and repeat to myself, ‘He’s okay; It’ll all be okay’’”. The explanation of my experience brought understanding to me, yet was a simple sentence that was mainly used to get my feelings across. On February 28th, we were given the prompt of looking at pictures of a children’s book and describing what we see. As I saw this prompt as simple, I wrote “Assessing the sixth image in the slideshow I see the bottom of a bed frame with a window showing snow on the surrounding buildings. In this picture, I notice the bright colors and I see it from the child’s perspective since the child is not pictured”. The bland explanation brought me an answer to his foreseen question and emphasizes my prior focus on writing for others. 

Our beginning assignments for the class consisted of a peer profile along with a class observation, both used to prepare our class for the task of our outsider observation and essay. With the assignment of the peer profile, I found myself extremely nervous, and with the excessive amount of schoolwork, I wrote to the audience of my professor. With a brief mention from the professor describing our given peer physically, I added brief descriptions of Keylani and the way she dressed. I stated that “I took notice of her cool, laid-back yet stylish, clothing style along with the extensive shoe collection she wore to class. Each class, Keylani had her hair slicked and done up nicely and carried in her Marc Jacobs ‘The Tote Bag’, which I recognized was popular among my classmates”. My simplistic explanation of her appearance led to an understanding of her physical appearance, yet lacked an understanding of any deeper routine or information. With my explanation of Kyelani as a person, I stated that “As I asked Keylani about her current life, she told me that she is 18 and a freshman. She informed me that when she applied to City College she wanted to study Biology. Now is majoring in Psychology, but remains undecided”. My explanation got the basic point across and led to a general understanding of her current state of life. 

The confusion relating to the outside fieldworking assignment led me to find comfort in the class observation. This allowed me to find understanding in our goals and obligations for the outside fieldwork assignment. I began to experiment with more detail throughout my writing, but based my writing on what would increase my grade. While experimenting with this I wrote how “The tan walls dulled the room with lights dangling from the ceiling aiming to mimic sunlight” along with how “With the desks packed so tightly that the students moved the desks in their path as they walked to their seats, the students congregated on the right side of the classroom, locating themselves in front of the Professor’s desk”. I aimed to include more detail in my writing, and experiment with the inclusion of detail. However, on the homework assignment of reading Out Patients on March 9th, the way of my writing changed. 

[Image Description: Page 143 of Fieldworking. It is the beginning page of the article of Out Patients. There is a title at the top and the rest of the page is text.]

We were assigned to focus on the scene of the writing, and how Elise Wu and “how… she… manage[s] to create scenes using [her] observations?”. Although the reading itself did not spark the recognition, the intention throughout the assignment brought understanding to what was being asked of me as a student, the intention of creating a strong scene. To me, this just made sense. Taking the time to process my current environment was a skill that helped bring great detail to my pieces of writing. The simplicity of the inclusion of my details and words that form a picture brought me an understanding of the method of writing about fieldworking. As I wrote on, I found myself enjoying the writing process and finding that the act of including much detail comes easily to me. The flow of my writing increased along with its formality. The effect the reading had on my mental writing can be seen throughout my freewriting along with my outsider fieldworking assignments. 

On April 18th, the week after the conclusion of four straight weekend visits home through the Attack, my free-write time was focused on my insider perspective of the Amtrak station. While still beginning to focus on my work of scenery, I focused on engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of writing and wrote how “The blue essence of the room creates a feeling of comfort and understanding. I sit comfortably on the chair surrounded by strangers as I continuously check the orange names and times placed on the large digital screen. I devour my bagel from the place I still cannot recall the name of, and will forever be known as ‘the place I went with Shelby before she went to her train’”. To me, the picture here is clear. I aimed to voice my feelings at that moment and put them properly down on the paper so that the reader has a clear comprehension of the place, the experience, and the feelings. 

While addressing the topic of my final assignment regarding my outside fieldwork, I knew that I needed to formulate a stance throughout my writing. Due to my new mentality, I know that since the people I was going to appeal to are people like me, I decided to write in a way that emphasizes my point of view. “The light brown hardwood floors accentuated by the strong essence of light brought great power to the room. The large window covering the wall introduces a sight of brown-shaded buildings while bringing the warmth and energy of the outside sunlight. The top of the large window consisted of colorful window art. With decor of flowers on the windowsill and pillows decorating the window nook, minimalist colors were represented and the environment portrayed a feeling of calmness. The lack of decoration brought formality and professionality to the room while keeping the space clear and inviting for the workout”. With the short excerpt from my writing regarding the physical environment of The New Body Project, I felt as though I was able to place the reader into the physical space while also emphasizing the positivity of the environment.

The message of creating a scene as voices throughout our learning of “Out Patients” led to a strong developmental change throughout my writing. The incorporation of details and feelings helped progress my writings into strong pieces, helping the reader to understand my stance and surroundings. Looking back through my past writings I find my mentality on those to be different due to my strive to be a better writer as a student. I don’t want to write for a grade, I now enjoy writing to bring interest to the reader and formulate a writing that I am proud of. My Social Science class instructed by Professor Dalon helped me as a student and as a writer to develop my mindset on my education along with strengthening my writing skills.