A Worthy and Important Challenge

English 150, frustrating at first, lots of writing and for me coming back to school after serving, as a ticketed carpenter for the last 10 years, the course has been a worthy opponent. I did English 150 in 2001, pretty fresh out of high school, not a lot of direction, as most seem to be diagnosed with at this time in their life. However as with the recent recession, which has affected the skilled labor trades in a negative manner, I decided to go back to school. Heading back to school in pursuit of a degree in Psychology and to compile that with the post degree middle school teacher program. I figured that my new career path would be full of reports and essay style research, so I felt I better re-do English 150 in hope to re-ignite my writing style.

            The most valuable thing I learned is to believe in my writing. I mean lets face it after writing with a square pencil on wood for ten years doesn’t really keep your writing skills sharp. In addition, being an adult student any positive feedback or reinforcement is helpful as with many adult students the odds are usually stacked against us. I personally loved the story “ Letter to America “ by Margaret Atwood. I suppose being in the trades during the recession, which most Canadians feel was created by the U.S, created the connection for me. The second story I enjoyed was “ CODE-BREAKER “ by Jim Holt. I have always wondered who is behind some of the most technological breakthroughs and why they often don’t receive the recognition they have earned. On the other hand, the story I felt I least enjoyed was “ Japans Kamikaze pilots and contemporary suicide bombers: War and Terror “ by Yuki Tanaka. Originally when seeing this Blog on the schedule I was excited as recently I had visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and left wondering how these Kamikaze soldiers were viewed in their homeland. However the story was more of comparison to terrorism style suicide bombers instead. Lesson learned, and hopefully I won’t judge a story by its title again. In terms of coverage in this course, all my questions were answered. I guess a little more time on how to collect research articles, eventhough they are not my favorite style of essay to write.

            All in all, I really enjoyed the course, as I feel it has prepared me for what lies ahead in my educational goals. I also feel, as though my writing style has returned, I knew it was in there, but just needed a little help to surface. I just wanted to say thanks to Laurie and that I have booked my next challenge, English 160.