What’s the most important thing you learned about writing in this course?

I found out how much you can analyze something by doing the Nature writing paper. Even through doing the exercise in class with the apple, I would have never known to look so deeply into one thing so through writing the Nature article I began to look at things more differently and closer.

What was the hardest essay to write?

The nature essay would also be the hardest essay I had to write becauseI had never written one before and wasnt too sure on how what aspects of what I was looking at to put in and what to put out.

What essay did I take the biggest chances with?

I think I took the biggest chances with writing my personal essay about what I went through with my anxiety. I never really exposed what I went through to other people besides my close family and friends and I think getting it out there allowed to feel more proud of what I overcame than embarrassed.

What do I want to write my reflective essay about?

I will probably write about how my process has never changed throughout all of the years and that since I found it to be helpful with all of my writing I kept the same process

What do I definitely not want to write about in my reflective essay?

I probably will not want to write about my grandmother passing away and my idea of valentines day because till this day I am extremely emotional about it and while writing that story I found that I cried a lot through it.

#15

When writing my Feature Article.....

how did I start?
I thought of a topic that I am very familiar with and I thought defending sororities and the typical sorority sterotypes was a fitting topic since I have been a sorority sister for the past 4 years. I started by organizing the main points I wanted to address and then fit peoples opinions into each topic.

when did I figure out my focus?
I figured it out during class when we went around and discussed the ideas we might have. It was my first idea and it was the one I went with.

what did I leave out? what did I change? what did I emphasize?
I spoke about all of the benefits of sororities and I left out some drawbacks sorority life might have like having to go to everything even when you dont want to. I emphasized the positives of being a sister and also some opinions people had on sorority life.

where did I get stuck and how did I get unstuck?
I got stuck when I had to think of who to interview but after talking to some sorority sisters from different organizationss it became easy.

what were my major revisions?
I really didnt have major revisions. My outline led to my essay and when I constructed mye ssy I didnt have to turn back and change anything to drastic.

how did my life (not on the page) affect my writing process?
Being that I have so much on my plate it wasa hard to find time to sit down and write.

where and when did I write my best? what time?
I write my best when I am sitting on my bed with the tv on in the background and I am by myself.

what writing rituals did I engage in?
Before I write in my bedroom I haveto make my bed and clean my room so Im sitting in a clean and non cluttered environment. When it comes down to writing rituals I normally do, I didnt freewrite like I normally do but I outlined first.

how did I use thinking, talking and writing to develop my paper?
I thought first then discussed my essay topic with some sisters who helped my develop key points to mention.

how did I know when I was finished and how did I decide where to start?
I decided to start my paper by talking about the sterotypes that we face as sorority girls and then went from there and then I knew I was done with the essay when I ended it on the note of talking about how all of those sterotypes are wrong which tied it into the first paragraph.

#14

Steps I take when writing

1. I freewrite evertything: I dont think about my grammar or organization but rather just let my ideas flow

2. I reread what I wrote and put my thoughts into an outline form

3. I then write my essay, using the outline as a guide, and add transitions and so on

4. I normally do two drafts and have atleast two different people read my essay because I always miss a lot of errors or just to see their perspective on what I should maybe change

#13

You Say I Pay For My Friends? I Don’t Think I Pay Enough.
My Fight Against Sorority Misconceptions

When I walk around in public wearing my Greek letters I can’t help but feel that people are constantly passing judgment. Unfortunately, it’s an upsetting position most sorority girls encounter. Many people believe that Greek life’s only focuses are only to party and get drunk but sorority life is not what many people think of it. It is sad that sorority girls have been standing up against certain stereotype for years. Instead of being seen as smart, academically focused, and friendly, our letters give people the idea that we are airheads, slackers and bitches. If you are one of those people who judge us but don’t truly understand us here is a chance to open your mind.

Allow me to start by verifying that I am far from the sorority stereotype. Since being at Kean University, I have been freshmen and sophomore class president of student council, been on the deans list, a member of the English national honor society and have won many honors such as the Volunteer of the Year Award. Like myself, each one of my thirty sorority sisters are driven young women who despite being apart of a “clique” have different majors of study, belong to different groups on campus, and all have unique personalities.

Being that Kean University is a commuter school, it is hard to not only meet many people but find things to do especially on the weekends. Melissa Ziomeck, a former graduate of Kean and former sister of Nu Theta Chi says, “Being apart of a sorority I had people to hang out with and places to go all of the time. If I didn’t join one at Kean I probably would have transferred”.

Amanda Fizz, a member of Nu Sigma Tau, a local sorority on the KU campus also tells what she benefits from being a sister, “I am constantly asked why I joined a sorority and I tell them one main reason is because we do so many community service acts throughout the year, all great experiences I probably would never have been apart if I hadn’t joined”.

Some examples of these community service acts that our sorority is apart of is Breast Cancer Walk, working at the Somerset Hills Food Bank, raising money at Up Till Dawn, an event for St. Judes Children’s Hospital, and our philanthropy which is an yearly event that not only commemorates a sister who passed away from Lou Gehrigs Disease but raises scholarship money for students.

Not only are these girls benefiting from doing these community service acts by becoming better people but their résumés are enhanced as well which will allow them to have a impressive advantage over many college students when they begin to get out into the interview process for jobs.

Although there are seventeen different sororities on campus with girls who all saw the benefits of joining, there are still a large amount of girls who never cross into the Greek life. Nicole Franchino, a senior at Kean, says, “My parents had an issue with me joining because of the partying with frats and the environment of drugs and alcohol”. In my four years of being in a sorority, I have seen many girls, similar to Nicole, who thought about joining but were being swayed by the false information that their parents had.

If parents only knew that sororities surprisingly do not follow the motto “no work and all play” and that their daughters could be apart of weekly business meetings, then they might alter their perspective. These meetings are run by sisters who hold both executive board positions and other positions such as fund raiser chair, sisterhood chair and the historian. By taking on these positions, girls not only gain confidence in them and learn responsibility but most importantly acquire leadership skills.

At these meetings, each girl who holds a position speaks and when it comes down to making decisions it is an environment where every girl’s opinion matters. For shy girls who have never spoken up, it is at place where these girls gain a stronger voice and more self-assurance. Also at these meetings, is where our dues are given to the treasurer, which pays for various things such as monthly sisterhood events, birthday and sister of the month presents, tee shirt money, our date party and our end of the year formal. Not only do we pay for these things but we pay various fines if we do anything inappropriate such as talking while someone else is speaking at a meeting or coming late to meetings or events. Kate Illiacheva, vice president of Omega Sigma Psi, states “The fines are meant to reinforce not only the respect level that every one deserves but also emphasizes that everyone has to pull their weight in order for us to succeed and honestly once these girls continue to rack up numerous fines, their manner eventually changes for the better.”

In the end, joining a sorority gave me the opportunity to find a second family away from home and allowed me to find a close group of friends that I wasn’t able to find in high school. By becoming a sister, I have learned how to work as a team, how valuable it is to volunteer, how to hold a position and be dependable and most importantly I have learned that the stereotypes that society gives sorority girls and Greek like as a whole are not only embellished but they are wrong.