Learning how to Learn (19)

I was still on my mission in Germany when I needed to sign up for classes. I honestly didn't want to even mess with setting up a schedule, so I called on my Sister-in-law, Annie, and asked her to help me put together a good schedule for my first semester back at college. *Notice, I didn't ask my brothers because I have a feeling they would have just filled my schedule with sports and math classes. Annie created a good mix of hard classes, required ones, and fun classes. I felt really good about my schedule, especially because I knew it would be a new environment for me and I needed to learn how to balance school with work and just life in general. Like every year, I received a Father's blessing a few days before school was to start. I remember in the blessing he emphasized that I would learn a lot of skills this semester that I would remember and continue to use for the rest of my college career. I remember I felt like the classes I would be taking would be primarily to prepare me and arm me with the tools and skills I would need.
That happened in August. Fast forward now to December. I can't even count how many essays I have written. I have written at least 2 essays per week in my classes. In about October as all of this was going on, I was getting so frustrated with my teachers for all assigning these lame essays. Well, now a few months later, (I have to be careful how I say this) I am grateful for all of the SKILLS I have used while writing essays. I guess the only way to make me grateful for that was to have me write a billion essays. Fine, I am grateful for the essays, kind of against my will. My German 330 class coupled with this Writing 150 class has helped my writing to really sky rocket. In German, I am required to write a two page paper every week with 5 sources and an annotated bibliography, as well as 1 in class essay per week. I have learned how to research and find sources quickly. I have also learned how to organize my essays well. In Writing, we have had a few big papers and then writing on the blog (which honestly isn't that terrible). With the different papers, I have learned how to use my voice in different ways. For example, I have been able to use details and sarcasm more effectively as I wrote my personal narrative. In the Research Paper, I was able to use my professional, educated voice and learned how to be clear in communicating my research.
These skills that I have learned, plus others I have not mentioned, I am excited to take and continue using in other aspects of my life and my college career.