I spent roughly fifteen weeks in my University 150 course and all fifteen were in some form of way. I personally would recommend the course prior to taking a regular college English course. It not only prepared me for the next course to come but, it was helpful in writing essays for courses other than English. It gave me an insight I never knew was available to college freshman. I believe this course should be brought to more freshman’s knowledge because until not passing the WSTP test I knew nothing about it. Which is probably the case for a lot of students.

In this course we completed a total of fifteen daily journals. For me journaling was an exploration of language. Throughout the progression of writing my journals I constantly had the natural urge to search for new words and increase my vocabulary. Often when writing my journals I included my dreams and ambitions, it always helped to see my goals written down. Writing journals was also beneficial because there is a unique relationship between the hand and brain, it sparks thoughts and ideas. Writing journals also improved my communication skills, the subvocalization of tracing written thoughts naturally translates in actual vocalization.

Also in this course, we wrote four essays. To begin with, writing the essays broaden my vision to think out of the box because every essay came with a different topic. I learned to express my thoughts in multiple pathways as the essays strengthened my analytical skills. I also learned to convey my message much more clearly and without having to beat around the bush. Over time when writing the essays my grade would progress every time and would include better feedback.

We also had a midterm in the course. A midterm is a exam taken halfway through a course. Despite the negative views focused on midterm exams, ours was not a traditional midterm. Our midterm was online and consisted of writing a essay, which would be evaluated with the WSTP rubric. The midterm was important part of the course because it is given based on students’ academic performance and such. My midterm personally helped a lot to bring an improvement in my knowledge of the course. The feedback from the exam provided an insight as to what I needed to work on in the second half of the course.

In conclusion, the University 150 course helped me prepare for college English that I didn’t know was available until I was already enrolled in the course. I think instructors and advisors should bring this to more freshman attention, not just ones who do not fail the WSTP. Overall I enjoyed the course and believed this course made me better writer. Had I not taken this course I believe I would be still writing on a high school level.