The course so far...

     I remember when signing up for classes how unexcited I was to have to take another writing class. I had thought that College Writing was the last required English class I would have to take in my entire college career, so I'm sure many of you felt the same sense of dread when my adviser told me about this one last, little requirement. After talking to a few of my friends, it seemed like i had two options for which advanced writing class I could take, technical writing or advanced writing in the disciplines. I chose the disciplines in the end because it seemed that had a chance to be a little bit more interesting because at least I would get to meet people from other majors and maybe be able to stay a little more engaged. I also heard from multiple people that the writing in the disciplines is far easier then the technical writing, so disciplines it was. I did absolutely no research on rate my professor or anywhere else, and picked the class purely based on time and the fact that i had a friend who had already signed up for the same exact class.

After a brisk summer weekend following the end of my co-op, I prepared to take my first classes in six months, and while i was not looking forward to it in any way, i was really not expecting the semester to be too difficult. since it was a writing class, I could gather that participation was going to at least be a small factor in our grading. This was something that i had always successfully skated by on the minimum requirements, i would tune in for 5-10 minutes, ask a question or provide some sort of comment, and then drop back out. While this had always worked for me, its a dangerous game to play as teachers usually notice if your zoning out and will put you on the spot to call you out on it. I decided that i was really going to try my best to stay more engaged this last time around, even if I didn't have a lot to contribute.

Within the first few days of class, I could tell that this was going to be a refreshing change of pace. After doing some sort of math or engineering for the past two and half years, it was nice to work a different part of my brain out for a few hours a day. I could also tell within the first few classes that Charlie was going to be a pretty chill, interesting teacher, and I have not been disappointed. The in-class discussion are interesting and unlike anything i had ever discussed in an English class before. Not many teachers have us analyze Little Wayne lyrics or break down aspects of the shit face tale. The writing assignments we've had to complete so far I actually find interesting, and I enjoy writing about my specific discipline and then hearing about other disciplines through the writings of others in the class. Overall I'm very happy with how this class has gone so far and will actually be a little disappointed when its over and i have to go back to all engineering all the time. It also helps that my friends in advanced technical writing have had to write a whole lot more then i have and complain about it almost every day!