My first semester of college at Tulsa Community College has been an unbelievable learning experience, and much of my growth stemmed from the meticulous criteria in Composition I, which pushed me to work to the utmost and develop my composition skills. I have become not only a more prepared student but also a stronger writer, something that will be of critical use as I pursue my degree in dietetics, a field that requires strong writing skills. A dietician must conduct in-depth research and analysis to develop a client's meal plans and then write them as clearly as possible. This is why it is essential to learn the building blocks of excellent writing early in my college career. No matter what a student's major is, it is important to strengthen his or her writing skills to make the most of college. Composition 1 has done that for me, teaching me to …show more content…
Not only was summarizing articles a new concept for me, but it was difficult to boot. When I first tried to summarize, I would just end up paraphrasing the text. In class, I learned that summarizing is very different from paraphrasing because it “includes the details of the passage in your own words.” (Lunsford 513) To overcome this weakness, I met with my professor to discuss ways to improve my understanding of the text I was reading. She taught me three things: Circle the words you do not understand and look them up in the dictionary, determine the intended audience of the text, and write a paragraph-by-paragraph summary. The ability to write an effective summary is the most important writing skill a college student can possess. Summarizing is important because it helps one recognize main ideas. Most people do not realize that it is necessary for a student to be able to summarize before he or she can succeed at most of the other varieties of writing that college requires; it is an essential part of note-taking,