Below is an excerpt of my introductory essay, our first official writing we did at the beginning of the semester. Looking back at it now I notice a difference in my writing from now to back then. I sound a lot more casual and I feel like my audience would not have taken me seriously. I’ve italicized phrases that I would’ve changed/taken away altogether or should’ve went more in-depth on to make my writing sound more professional.
My name is Salsabil Taleb (as you can see from my header) and I was born on November 25 in Chittagong, Bangladesh. I stayed there till the age of 6 and immigrated to the U.S. with my family. People usually don’t believe me when I tell them I wasn’t born here because they expect me to fit the stereotypes of having an accent or not be so westernized. Ever since I was young, I was a fast learner and I loved to read and memorize things which led me to quickly adapt to Western culture. I remember when I was in Bangladesh, we were taught to memorize very long excerpts and poems at the age of 5! I tend to think this may be one of the reasons why it was so easy for me to assimilate and also because I came here when I was very young.
School and I got along very well until high school. That’s when things downgraded. I didn’t read as much and I wasn’t taking my classes seriously. I would consistently skip class and hand in my work late. Thinking about high school makes me feel embarrassed because of how lightly I took my classes. I tried to understand why I suddenly started slacking and I’m sure it was because of how easy it was to not come to class or how easy it was to convince the teachers to pass you. It wasn’t until junior year that I got a wake-up call. Everyone around me was either stressing about the SATs or what teachers to ask for recommendations, or how to write their college essay. I felt left out and irresponsible and decided to get my life together. That’s when I started reading again. Reading helped me to stay focused and inspired me to be on task every day. (I should’ve talked more on how reading helped me)
Usually, when people ask me what my favorite books are, my mind goes blank because I don’t have a favorite. I’ll just see a book, read it, enjoy it and call it a day. One thing about me is, I read on my own time. I don’t like when there’s a deadline or when I’m forced to read a book. It ruins the fun. You would expect me to like writing since I love reading so much but sadly, that is not the case. I’m not very good at it as you can see as I tend to ramble. My mind moves quickly and it’s hard to provide a transition. It’s also very difficult for me to start an essay and conclude one. Even though writing isn’t my favorite thing in the world, I think it’s beautiful and inclusive. It helps us express our thoughts and feelings and leaves no barrier. I also think writing in a way helps us discover skills that can be used later on in life. Other than writing and reading, I’m not a huge fan of math. It frustrates me and I’ve always disliked it. On the first day of the Science of Homeland Security class with Professor Gersten, he went over a lot of math. This scared me as I hated math, but I wish to learn more and enhance my skills. Since I love reading, I also love history. I love reading about the past and important historical figures. Most find it boring and useless but I find it interesting and essential to understanding our past.
This semester I hope to learn to love writing and improve my writing skills. I loved our free write session because there were no rules in writing and I wrote however I intended. Since I tend to ramble, I aspire to learn how to break down my thoughts and put it into a well-developed essay. Writing papers have always been a weakness of mine. Even though I don’t do well with writing, I’m better at proofreading and fixing grammar mistakes. I also hope to analyze what I’m reading to better understand the text since I tend to disregard that. I just read to read. By taking this course, I hope it helps me to be more knowledgeable on the topic of homeland security and how to write papers on it. I’m very excited for what this course holds and cannot wait to learn more.
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