Writing Portfolio

Reflective Letter

Dear HCC Writing Instructors,
Writing 101 has been an interesting experience for me. Before I came into the class, I was considered to be one of the excellent writers in high school. Therefore, when I registered for Writing 101, I though it was going to be a piece of cake. Well, I was wrong. Writing 101 has changed my thinking about what a good writing should be. When writing is no longer about the number of pages or the length of the words from thesauruses, the truth began to reveal. Hence, I’m writing this letter to you to explain my strength and weaknesses as well as the progress I’ve made during this quarter in Writing 101.

As the class goes on, I realize my strength as a writer lays in stories and personal experiences. When I included stories that I’ve heard before or experiences that I went through, my essays became more original, individualistic, and connected to the readers. For example, in the letter that I wrote to the director of Puget Sound Early College, I talked about the bullying that goes on at our program. However, to talk about how bad bullying is and never experience it in real life is like saying how delicious chocolate is without ever tasting it. Therefore, by including my personal experience in the letter, I could show the readers the negative effect bullying has on a person’s self-esteem and confidence first-handedly.

Along with strength comes weaknesses, and my weakness often can be seen through the thesis in my essays. To have a strong thesis, my instructor developed four criteria that the writer needs to keep in mind when writing a thesis. The four criteria are arguable, concise, clear and specific. A thesis cannot exceed without meeting all four standards and my theses often don’t. For example, in the reflective letter, my thesis originally was “The experience at the Highline Food Bank allowed volunteers like me to see that everyone has the power to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others in the community that they lived in.” Even though my thesis was quiet specific, it was wordy and therefore, not concise or clear. However, I have changed to a more concise and clearer version of " The experience at the Highline Food Bank proved that everyone has the power to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others in the community." I’m working on all of the criteria that build a strong thesis and I believe that by the end of this class, my thesis will be arguable, clear, concise and specific.

Even though one quarter of Writing 101 didn’t make me awesomely good at writing like I hoped, I’ll sure leave the class as a better writer than when I first came. At the beginning of the quarter, my essays were wordy and impersonal. I didn’t show any connections that I have with the topics or readers. My word choices were boring and even seemed like I spent more time looking through the thesaurus than working on the actual essay sometimes. I was stressed out about how to make my essay sound intelligent. Now, a quarter later, I have a better focus when it comes to writing. No more thesauruses. My sentences are more concise and less wordy. I also have become more personal in my writing. I now write the way I talk, allowing my real voice to shine through. Because of all this, my writing is more interesting and original, real and connected.

As Writing 101 comes to an end, I finally see my strengths and weaknesses in writing, and therefore, am able to work on improving my writing skills. It has been a challenging course for me, but at the same time, it opened my eyes to different aspects of life and allowing me to see that it’s better to show my true self than pretend to sound like a walking thesaurus.

Sincerely,
Nhien Quach


Final Revision of Essay #3

Dear Director of Puget Sound Early College,
Before coming to Puget Sound Early College, I pictured the school to be a democratic school with a mature and considerate student body. I expected every single student here to treat everyone else with manner and respect. I got what I wanted to see, for the most part. However, there are still few individuals who don’t seem to fit in with my expectation of PSEC. Hence, I am writing this letter to you in regard to the ongoing harassment at Puget Sound Early College.

Before we get into the issue, I would like to acknowledge the difficulty of directing young programs like PSEC and I recognize it to be a very hard job to handle. I am grateful for people like you who are willing to take the responsibility and provide the leadership needed. I know that with your power and passion for the school, you would make the best decision possible to create the PSEC that we envision.

Coming from a traditionally big high school, I understand that harassment like bullying is unavoidable when different groups of teenagers are put together in a small environment like PSEC. I have never been a bully before but I have friends who bully others. People bullies their classmates or someone who is weaker than them because they feel powerless or not in control when they’re at home. Because of that, they bully weaker kids so they can feel the power and have the reassurance of being in control. I remember one of my high school friends who started to pick on the “nerds” in class after his parents got a divorce. He decided to take it out on the “nerds” in class because he had no one to talk to. He felt like he had no control over his life and there was nothing he can do to change the situation that his family was in. It was very hard for him and I understood why he needed a way to let it out. It is tough trying to suppress emotions and feelings, especially as one stumble through rough times in life.


However, going through harsh time or not, it’s unacceptable for a person to harass others who might be weaker than him. Everyone needs to recognize that bullying others is not the answer to any problem. PSEC, as a democratic school, values everyone equally. So who to say one has the right to bully the kid next to him? It is disrespectful, crude and unjust. Nobody wants to be teased or beat up. I can assure you that because I’ve been there myself. When I first came to America, I couldn’t speak English very well. As a result, I got teased by my classmates whenever I spoke up in class. They would say jokes about me, or imitate my accent and then, laugh at it. I was so embarrassed by the way I talked that I decided to stop participating in class. It destroyed my self-confidence and pride. I hated myself for being who I am, the Asian girl who can’t talk right. The experience was so hurtful that it took me a long time to just get over it. Even though I’ve finally realized that my accent is one of my unique characteristics, I know that not everyone have the family or friend support like I did to fight the negative impact bullying has on one’s self-esteem. Whether it’s teasing or actual physical hostility, harassing others is wrong and no one should take part in it.


I know you understand the importance of creating a safe environment where students can feel comfortable with being who they are and what they represent. I think one of the steps we can take to end the bullying at PSEC is to simply create awareness. Once everybody is fully aware of the issue of bullying, I believe we would keep an eye out for one another and therefore, keep the bully from picking on people. Also, we should encourage students to talk to advisors if they are being picked on or picking on others. We need to help our students and friends solve their problems through a positively creative ways. This is our school issue but at the same time, it’s very personal for me. I have experienced it first-handed and I don’t want anybody to go through what I went through. It’s a big subject to tackle but I believe that as a democratic school, we have the values and qualities needed to solve it.

Nhien Quach


Final Draft of the Last Out-of-class Essay (Essay #5)

From Food Bank to Better Community
When I was younger, my grandma often brought me along with her to a temple near our house to help out the homeless and beggars that stay there. Because I was little, all I really did was following my grandma in the kitchen and do what I was told to do, which usually ended up as washing dishes. Thus, I didn’t really get to meet the people that came to the temple for food. Now looking back, I wished I had a chance to learn more about the people and their stories. After all, a person cannot live long enough to experience everything on her own so one way or another; she got to learn it from others. That’s why the moment I saw the opportunity to volunteer for the Highline Food Bank, I couldn’t stay away. It didn’t just bring back the old memory at the temple with my grandma but also, it allowed me to have a better understanding of the struggles that people have to face everyday and learn how lucky I am. The experience at the Highline Food Bank proved that everyone has the power to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others in the community.

As the project comes to an end, I realize it was so much more than I expected. Even though volunteering for the Food Bank was one of my top choices for the project this quarter, not everything started on a right note. The first Tuesday that I showed up for the Food Bank, the lady in charge of it wasn’t there. The Food Bank itself was a tiny, little room, about the size of a walk-in closet. In fact, it was so small that four people can make the room crowed. I like space and the size of the Food Bank was disappointing to me. However, the second time I was there, I got to meet Susan, the lady in charge of the Food Bank. She was so nice and sweet. She asked my group to make a box to hold donated, old cell phones and chargers that will be given to the “Soldiers to Soldiers” program. Sarah, Kathryn and I had a blast making the box as we blew up balloons with helium and decorate them. For the last two weeks, we went to the Food Bank every Tuesday to mostly help out with making advertisements to put up around campus. I have had such a great time that the whole thing didn’t feel like completing project assignment for Writing and Sociology at all. It’s also nice to know that as we put our posters up around the campus, more people come to the Food Bank for food. I’m really making a difference in my community and boy, it feels good!

The work I have done at the Food Bank makes the community a better place. Even though my group mainly makes posters and advertisements instead of actually hand out food to the hungry people, with our posters, we create awareness among the people in the community of the resources available. Without our posters, the people who are in need wouldn’t know where to turn to when they’re hungry. In a way, I would like to think that we didn’t just create posters; we created support and the comfort of knowing the Food Bank is right there on the main campus just in case anybody needed it. As a matter of fact, a woman who couldn’t afford food for her family of five kids, came to the Food Bank the other day for help after seeing the signs we made outside the Student Union Building. I helped somebody! Even though what I’ve done didn’t bring the human race anywhere near the end of world hunger, I sure left the community a better place than when I found it.

The Food Bank experience helped me become a better person. Before volunteering for the program, I didn’t really value the food I have every day. I didn’t realize there are many people, right in our community, go to bed hungry at night. After helping out at the Food Bank and talking to Susan, I stopped taking food for granted. Now, I only take what I can eat and save the rest for later, instead of taking everything there is and ended up throwing half of the meal away just because I couldn’t eat it all. Also, after going to the Food Bank a few times, I learn that small things in life can make big differences. For example, Highline Food Bank is collecting old cell phone and chargers for “Soldier to Soldier”, a program that collects and sells old cell phone to raise money for the aesthetic legs and arms that local wounded soldiers from Iraq needed. Who would have known that an old cell phone I was about to throw away could transform a soldier’s life? I do now. It is so satisfying to know that my work truly makes a difference in someone else’s life and in the community, instead of just creating another one of those long, wordy essays that will be thrown away at the end of the quarter.

Volunteering for the Food Bank had been a great opportunity for me to learn more about the challenges that people are facing in our community. It allows me to look beyond my sheltered life and be more thankful for what I have. The experience also taught me that it doesn't require much to improve the community .My work might not change the world, but I sure brought it closer to where it should be . From Food Bank to better community, all we truly need is a little bit of love and the will to make a difference.


Final Exam

Technology = Changes

I remember the old days, where people used to take out pencil and paper to write a letter, or when people still went out to buy a birthday card and wrote messages without spell-check. Well, those days are long gone as technology takes part in our every day lives. People have also changed the way they act in general as technology like social networking websites become the main tool of expressing our feelings and thought. Technology, as a socializing agent, allows people to be more open and less personal about their lives.

For the last ten years, technology, such as the Internet and all things that come along with it, has become a big socializing agent in our society. It changes the way people communicate, think and work. For example, in the article of “Love is out of ink: Valentines in the age of the emoticon”, published by the Christian Science Monitor, the author compared the way people express their love for one another back then to now. “Once upon a time, men and women of culture grabbed a quill, dunked the tip in ink and penned away. “My angel, my all, my very self,” wrote Ludwig van Beethoven to his secret beloved in 1806.” Today, the messages leave at a click of “SEND” and arrive in a nanosecond somewhere half-way around the world. “Instead of ink stains, they may be peppered with smiley-faced "emoticons," links to YouTube videos, or a Facebook picture page”. Technology has changed the way people write letter, express their feeling and in general, communicate with one another.

Because of technology and the way it operates, people have become more open and less personal about themselves or their own business on the net. What used to be something private, like their sexuality or family background is now often can easily be found on the person’s Myspace or Facebook. For example, in the article “Love is out of ink…” by the Christian Science Monitor, social networking websites like Wetpaint.com, a website that helps Internet users build a personal page, not only facilitate the creation of multimedia digital shrines for loved one, they also make love statements public. According to the article, “some users even encourage visitors to vote on whether the couple will make it or break up.” Along with this, social-networking sites also reinvented the holiday like Valentine’s, making it less emotionally charged, allowing people to be less personal about their relationship with others. Sending a dozens of roses, a box of chocolate or even just a card from a nearly Hallmark store, like the old day, seems so heavy and serious in a way. Now, with just a couple of click away, you can send a little e-mail or e-card, showing your love, care and though for the other person, without having to deal with the weight and pressure that came along with roses and chocolate.

Technology, as a socializing agent, has a good side and a bad side to it. Good thing about technology is that it allows people to stay connected to one another, despite of their geographical location. According to the article, technology has completely changed the way that couples are in touch with each other. With technology, couple now can see each other face to face even if they are miles apart, thanks to the power of webcam. People can also post their pictures to social networking sites such as Myspace. The down side to technology is the sexual predation and identity fraud. With all the pictures and personal information available, these things can easily happen. Also, based on the article, people get to a level of personal disclosure about their feelings much more quickly than they do face to face, creating a new boldness to make decisions that become public, that might be regretted later.

Technology, like the Internet, has become a big part of people lives. As a socialization agent, good or bad, it sure changes the way people think, communicate and work. Technology has made people to be more open, and at the same time, become less personal about their business. People have more connections with others now, thanks to technology and the Internet, even though those connections are not as deep as it used to be. After all, it kinda difficult trying to have personal relationship with 5oo friends on Myspace.