Omari Goodman

12/7/2025

     This semester, I am taking English composition for the 2nd time for my sophomore year, due to some circumstances. And, I can say that I have learned quite a bit this time. I’ve learned that all professors are not as difficult as you may think. In high school we have been told that, “College professors aren’t going to give you the keys to finish your assignment” or “ Some college professors don’t care about us, they’re just there to pick up a paycheck and will move on in life” etc. Which they are not wrong about. However, in this English class, I can honestly say that this professor is proving that statement wrong. Ms Zimmerman actually takes her time with the class to talk about what they can improve on and what to do for our homework assignments, whether it’s the Synthesis essay, translations or just their overall work. Such an example is when I had my 1st one on one meeting with her. She actually guided me through on how I can improve my Language & Literacy Narrative, and she was slowly taking me through the bulletin she made on notes. Never rush it, but took it slow to where I can understand and take all the info in. 

     Another thing I have learned is that when doing essays, creating a planning sheet or an outline for your essays can be beneficial in more ways than one. Let me liberate, let’s say you’re doing an essay, and you are trying to start it. But, you don’t know how to start it. By having a sheet of like a step by step of how to structure it, it will become easier and you get your point across. For example, the drafts, 2 sentence summary, how to do author credentials, how to make a strong thesis etc. When Ms Zimmerman would hand those out I felt very confident that I knew what I needed to do. I remember last Wednesday, I was struggling to  explain how this topic contributed to the main topic of my essay. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I should do. Then, I emailed Ms Zimmerman, about my situation and she reminded me to use the worksheet she gave us that week to help. I told her I didn’t have the physical paper, so she sent a copy to me and I was able to finish the essay. 

      I’ve learned that time management is a very important skill to learn, especially when juggling with other class assignments. There have been a couple incidents where I would forget an English assignment and would only realize it’s due until the night before or the day after. But, what I like about the class is that Ms Zimmerman is very understanding and she would allow us to make up that assignment. For example on Monday, I had a conversation with her about my submission to the essay because I fell asleep while doing the essay and because I was flooded with other assignments . And I was doing it on the train, on my way to school. She completely understood and she told me don’t worry about it, you can still make changes to it and submit and she wouldn’t take any points off. Over time, I have learned that time management is key in the college world. You will only get overwhelmed, stressed and tired to do all those assignments in one night. I experienced a lot in the beginning of the semester and my first year of college. I had to learn the hard way, which is why I’m taking this class again.  So, to my freshmen classmates, make sure you always check your email and brightspace.

   Finally, I have learned that the syllabus and the class calendar is very useful, it’s like a cheat code. This relates to time management. What I mean by that is on the class calendar it tells you the materials you’re gonna be covering in the class. So, the class calendar should be a priority for any student. And the syllabus is basically like the class calendar, but it tells you the major assignments to look out for the semester, the summary of the class, and for some classes tells you what materials you need to take notes in the class or what website to use for that specific class. This time, I read the syllabus, I understand certain things, and if I remember them, I will put them on my personal calendar or on my reminder to make sure I’m up to date with everything. As long as you’ve done every assignment, you will get a good grade in that class. I learned that in this class last year.