Christin Bailey

ENGL 1010-Intro to Writing

 In this essay I was asked to reflect on and write about a significant memory or event in my life.  I chose to write about a week when my little sister and I stayed with my grandparents while the rest of my family went to Disneyland.  I decided to write about it because that week gave me most of the memories that I have of my grandparents.  While I may have missed out on the magic of Disneyland, I gained so much more by spending time with them instead.

 Reflection:

     I really enjoyed this writing assignment, but at first I found it a little difficult to pick a subject.  When I was deciding on what event to write about, I thought of how exciting my first trip to Disneyland was as a child.  I started to free write about it, but remembered that it wasn't my first "memory" of Disneyland.  The first memory I had of Disneyland was when I was left behind.  My next free write had a more negative tone to it as I remembered the bitter feelings of never being able to do what the big kids got to do.  Those negative feelings started to slowly disappear when I started remembering the fun details of the week I spent at my grandparents' house.  I further explored those details and my first draft was born.   

    I learned a lot through writing this essay.  I learned the importance of free writing.  I learned that your ideas and your tone can morph and change, and that it's okay to explore those different directions.  I learned that revisions help make your paper stronger by seeing things you didn't catch in your earlier drafts.  I learned that details and anecdotes add depth and personality to my writing.   I learned how to engage my readers and take them on a journey with me.  Through all these things, I've grown as a writer with the completion of this assignment.