A2

A.2. Student’s personal reflection on his/her own development as it relates to the course strands


To start things off my name is Stephen Jeffrey Speas and I am a pre-business major from Charlotte, NC. English is a subject that I have enjoyed in the past and hopefully I will enjoy this class as well. In past English courses I have taken throughout my high school career I have made fairly decent grades and have excelled. One problem about my high school English was that in my opinion we did way too much reading. Reading is not a preference of mine but besides that all the other aspects of English I have enjoyed thus far.

I would like to believe that I am fairly good at persuasion and making people see things in a different light. I am not particularly good at argument mainly because I have a difficult time put words together in a smooth-flowing way but I will once my mind is made up about a particular subject then it is set.

I like to use visual representations for arguments and discussions so the core strand information design and technology is very familiar to me. I like to use visual elements such as video and other technologies such as sound, graphics, and text to persuade people in an argument.

Though at times I must admit researching a subject is very boring but it is also very essential if one is to obtain information about that particular subject. In high school I did a number of research projects and I have always found that the best method for doing one is to pick a topic that interests you.

Collaboration is also a core strand that I am familiar with. I like working in groups and interacting with other people so I can get an outsiders view of things. Working in a group has always helped obtain good grades for assignments in the past. It has also helped to get to know my peers on a more personal level. I also believe that group assignments are more than likely to be completed faster and more efficient than individual assignments.

As far as my writing process goes, I tend to wait till the last minute to start on things. For some reason unknown to me I find it better to do an assignment all at once rather than doing it piece by piece over period of time. Something that is helpful to me when I am writing is that I have nice soft music playing in the background. It helps me to relax and relieves some of my stress. I tend to use a lot of technology everyday in my life. I am literally on facebook everyday and I don’t know what I without my cell phone always being with me. I am always texting people and calling family and friends so I would like to believe that I am pretty familiarized with modern technology. In general I am a very laid back guy who just wants to succeed in whatever endeavors I am embarking on.