Final Reflection blog post
When I first came to UF, I was adamant about not being an English major. I didnât want stuffy professors to make me read stuffy books and articles by stuffy authors and then write equally stuffy articles about such readings. I had a minor existential crisis that led me to add the English major at the last minute, which is why Iâm taking two English classes in one summer semester, right before my final year at UF. I was stuck somewhere between dreading the idea of taking an advanced exposition because I hate writing essays and being nervous about taking a makeademia class because I am neither a tech nor art person. I have to say though, I absolutely love this class. I tell everyone about it. I have been excited to do almost every project. English is about so much more than just reading books by dead white guys (or reading books in general), and this class was both a reminder and proof of that.Â
Our textbook taught me so many things that I knew (yes, I wrote that correctly). The writing tips seemed simple and obvious: put your subject in the beginning and get to the point when writing. I had heard some variation of the information at some point. However, seeing all of that information written out in front of me with examples and practice problems made me really pay attention to the words. This was great for my own writing. For reading other peopleâs writings, though? It kind of ruined me. I can barely read those stuffy academic texts anymore, and itâs not like I had such a great time doing it before. The lessons of the textbook were so real that I have become an even stronger critic of academic writing. Again, this is a good news/bad news scenario.Â
I also loved how much I learned about UF itself. I complain about this school a lot (because letâs face it, the school messes up a lot), but learning about all the awesome things they make available to the studentsâŚwell, it didnât change my mind but it certainly did give me a newfound appreciation for parts of the university. My absolute favorite thing I learned about/project we completed was 3D printing. I genuinely called Marston three times through the renting process to double-triple-quadruple check that this process was entirely free because it was unbelievable to me. I brought a 3D printer to my apartment and printed whatever on Earth I wanted. I printed three keychains and a cake topper. Because I could. And I absolutely plan on renting a printer out again. Literally just because I can.
-EH

















