Draft one -250 words
Dear Mom,
Well I wanted to start off with thank you, for pushing me and helping me become the person I am today. I know it must have been hard dealing with me, and for that I give you credit because you never knew what part of me you were going to have to deal with. Especially going into senior year, I gained what is called “senioritis”, but with that I also gained an incredible friend group wich you have always wanted for me. You were the one who realized I have never dealt with this sudden burst of going out every day and hanging out with a bunch of people as it had always been difficult for me to make many friends and not keep to myself, you know especially because you had to deal with those rough nights of me felling sad and lonely, but overall you reminded me that college was something I had always worked hard for and to not give up when I was so close, so I have you to thank for being at this point. Well now that I am here I can say that the fist semester has been quite the journey for me. I started off always in my room , I didnt hang out much with my roomates and I thought I was at the same point I had always been in, it felt like highschool all over again and it realy bummed me out, I thought for a while that it was to late to meet people and that everyone had already made there groups and friends wich is where I could not have been more wrong.
Draft two – 500-1000
Dear Mom,
Well I wanted to start off with thank you, for pushing me and helping me become the person I am today. I know it must have been hard dealing with me, and for that I give you credit because you never knew what part of me you were going to have to deal with. Especially going into senior year, I gained what is called “senioritis”, but with that I also gained an incredible friend group wich you have always wanted for me. You were the one who realized I have never dealt with this sudden burst of going out every day and hanging out with a bunch of people as it had always been difficult for me to make many friends and not keep to myself, you know especially because you had to deal with those rough nights of me felling sad and lonely, but overall you reminded me that college was something I had always worked hard for and to not give up when I was so close, so I have you to thank for being at this point. Well now that I am here I can say that the fist semester has been quite the journey for me. I started off always in my room , I didnt hang out much with my roomates and I thought I was at the same point I had always been in, it felt like highschool all over again and it realy bummed me out, I thought for a while that it was to late to meet people and that everyone had already made there groups and friends wich is where I could not have been more wrong. It was the neon festival wich was put on by our school, and a group of girls in my hall had walked past me and asked me if I had wanted to join them, wich I said yes because it was either that or watching criminal minds in my room. At this point you are probably thinking that these were the girls I now hang out with the most, but at the festival I ran into a girl named Maia, who I had recognized because she was in three out of four of my classes and I walked up to her and she was with another girl named Torrie. From there we decided we were bored and all hung out together going back to Maias dorm, there I alsop met Maias roommate Natalie who is also a good friend of mine now. Overall I learned a lot of myself in college, a lot of things I have known previously, and have became more clear over my time here such as I like my own space, I can prevent procrastination if I try hard enough and I can find people with similar interests and who like doing the same things as me which took me a while to learn. And I also learned new things about myself, hanging around maia helped me open up a lot and be able to be myself. About grades and classes, yes things have been a struggle for me, as much as I try not to procrastinate it is one of my biggest flaws with my school work. I have also been struggling with math, but the nice part about that is I get together with my friend torrie and even though we both struggle we take a few hours each day and struggle through the assignments together. My grades may not be the same as they were in high school but things are very different in college, there is a huge load of freedome and responsibility that we’re just dumped on people who have had there whole lives structured out by parents and highschool and that is something I am still trying to navigate and use my time wisely. Overall college is a huge change, I have learned and clarified some things for myself and I know that this is just the begging of my experience here. Things may change entirely or keep going in this path that I am on but I know you will be there for me when I need it most on this journey and be the constant I need for this. Thank you for getting me through and brining me this far.
Draft Three- 1000-2500
Dear Mom,
Well I wanted to start off with thank you, for pushing me and helping me become the person I am today. I know it must have been hard dealing with me, and for that I give you credit because you never knew what part of me you were going to have to deal with. Especially going into senior year, I gained what is called “senioritis”, but with that I also gained an incredible friend group which you have always wanted for me. You were the one who realized I have never dealt with this sudden burst of going out every day and hanging out with a bunch of people as it had always been difficult for me to make many friends and not keep to myself, you know especially because you had to deal with those rough nights of me feeling sad and lonely, but overall you reminded me that college was something I had always worked hard for and to not give up when I was so close, so I have you to thank for being at this point. Well now that I am here I can say that the first semester has been quite the journey for me. I started off always in my room , I didn’t hang out much with my roomates and I thought I was at the same point I had always been in, it felt like highschool all over again and it really bummed me out, I thought for a while that it was too late to meet people and that everyone had already made there groups and friends which is where I could not have been more wrong. It was the neon festival which was put on by our school, and a group of girls in my hall had walked past me and asked me if I had wanted to join them, which I said yes because it was either that or watching criminal minds in my room. At this point you are probably thinking that these were the girls I now hang out with the most, but at the festival I ran into a girl named Maia, who I had recognized because she was in three out of four of my classes and I walked up to her and she was with another girl named Torrie. From there we decided we were bored and all hung out together going back to Maias dorm. There I also met Maias roommate Natalie who is also a good friend of mine now. Through this small group of people came a big change, I began hanging out in Assisi which is a freshman dorm on campus where I met the friends of maia and her roommate expanding the people I hang out with. I have had many adventures with this group whether we decide to support each other by going to games such as football where Tori is a cheerleader, or hockey where my friend Marget plays goalie as well as my roommate Emily being a member on this team, I have had many more of these experiences than I realized and have had in highschool, which I think you would be proud and happy of me for. Overall I learned a lot of myself in college, a lot of things I have known previously, and have became more clear over my time here such as I like my own space, I can prevent procrastination if I try hard enough and I can find people with similar interests and who like doing the same things as me which took me a while to learn. And I also learned new things about myself, hanging around maia helped me open up a lot and be able to be myself. About grades and classes, yes things have been a struggle for me, as much as I try not to procrastinate it is one of my biggest flaws with my school work. I have also been struggling with math, but the nice part about that is I get together with my friend Torrie and even though we both struggle we take a few hours each day and struggle through the assignments together. My grades may not be the same as they were in high school but things are very different in college, there is a huge load of freedom and responsibility that we’re just dumped on people who have had their whole lives structured out by parents and highschool and that is something I am still trying to navigate and use my time wisely. My grades have been slacking and sometimes I realize I may not have put in the amount of effort I should, but I want this to push me in the future as I move along with college and rather than be beaten down by my misrtakes grow from them and learn from them. UNE overall has taught me many things, I have yet to decide if this campus is something I want to stay with because I find myself becoming overwhelmed with certain things, such as school work, being this far from home and a key not is that one of my close friends who I spent most of my time with is also no longer attending UNE. Now I know that last part should not determine my whole college experience but it made me realize how much of a dependency I create towards certain people, and made me think of my past and that this is something personal that I need to work on. Overall college is a huge change, I have learned and clarified some things for myself and I know that this is just the beginning of my experience here. Things may change entirely or keep going in this path that I am on but I know you will be there for me when I need it most on this journey and be the constant I need for this. Thank you for getting me through and bringing me this far.
With love
-Makenzie
For this project, I will be writing this letter to a loved one because I think its a great time to reflect on my experiences in my first semester and best use the resources from this class
1- I am addressing this letter to my mother
2- Referencing events and emotions from weekly reflections and out-of-class activities
-Neon Fest
– The first Few weeks of college writings
3- Being writing the letter with these events added up
