The Exit Exam
Fall 2004 AnchorSet, 5-5 Essay
Topic:
A Course that has made a difference in my life
Back to:
I have gone through about fourteen years of school since I started kindergarden. I remember many of my teachers and some of the material that I have learned. But one course seems to stand out in my mind. The Intro to Humanities course that I took at Valencia College broadened my perspectives on how I see the world around me, but more importantly, it changed the way I look at my music career.
I took the class in the summer of 2003. I had recently taken a semester off because I felt I needed a break since I had recently graduated from high school. It was the only class I took that semester and I really did not like it for the fact that it was a night course and was three hours long. The first day of class I met the teacher, Mrs. Stacey Williams. She impacted me the first day of class with her vivacious way of teaching and passion for her work. She discussed with the class what the final project would be and that we could choose to do it on the subject or anyone we would like. Automatically, I chose to do it on one of my favorite gospel singers, Donnie McClurkin.
Researching the project, I learned so much about Donnie McClurkin's life and came to realize how many lives he has touched through his songs and preachings. I was motivated to follow in his footsteps and touch people's lives through the power of music. I also learned the true meaning of self expression and not to be afraid of who I am and what I believe. The reason why this class changed my life the way that it did is because the material was not based on what scholars thought or anything incredibly academic, it was based on our ideas and who I was as a person and as a human being.
At the moment, I am in the process of writing song lyrics and preparing myself mentally and spiritually to take on a professional singing career. So far, I have written three songs and am being invited to sing in churches all throughout Florida . I am very happy with what I am doing and know that I will touch peoples lives. I returned to college full time the following semester with a whole new attitude and motivation to finish school. I feel that my life is back on track and that I am going to be someone someday soon.
I know that if it had not been for that humanities course I would not be in school or at least not have been so motivated to attend. I probably would not be taking my singing career so seriously. It is course like humanities taught by teachers like Stacey Williams that make it worth while to come to school. The course impacted my life in such a way that I have a new perspective on who I am, who others are, and how I want to impact their lives in some way.
Comments:
[Grade: 5-5 (509w) This is a thoughtful essay that follows a narrative format. The writer has a clear understanding of sentence structure and appears comfortable writing her/his thoughts. The paragraphs stick to topics well. There are very few grammatical and spelling mistakes.
There is some repetition of ideas and the writing is rather wordy. This lends a slightly "drawn out" feeling when reading the essay, as if there are more words than ideas or details.]