Final Reflection

Our first blog post was to reflect on our writing styles of the past. Then most of my writing experience was stuffy and forced high school papers. I was really glad that I was able to branch out in this class and write about topics I am really passionate about. Writing about professional sports and sports injuries really allowed me to fill my papers with personality. This is the kind of writing I have always enjoyed and continued to enjoy throughout this semester. I thought I grew a lot as a writer by learning more about the fundamentals of writing. Rhetorical appeals and metacommentary were two topics I was not all that familiar with coming into the class that I will incorporate into all of my writing from now on. I enjoyed coming to class this semester because it was not rigid like science lectures. I expected all college classes at such a big university to be giant lectures where the teachers bark at hundreds of students. This class was more like a conversation while learning, of course. The various different mediums we used, movies, articles, ads, etc., kept the class interesting. Overall I thought English101 was a beneficial in building my writing repertoire.

My Life as a Sports Fan

As I have been focusing my trio of papers this semester on sports, I thought I would produce a quick blog post explaining my love for sports. It is essential to my final paper to know how much being a fan of professional sports teams means to my life. My Sundays in the fall are scheduled around when the Redskins will play football. I have been a fan of the Maryland basketball team here since I was a kid and vividly remember watching the team claim the NCAA National Championship in 2002. My family had a party when a baseball team returned to Washington DC several years ago. My final allegiance is to the Washington Capitals who I am currently stressing out over their chase to the Stanley Cup. I watch these teams play every chance I get, read countless articles about them, and talk about them tirelessly. In fact I probably spend too much time concerning sports. My friends sometimes laugh at my obsession; however, they tell me how much they have learned about sports since befriending me in the fall when we moved on campus. I love sharing my sports knowledge with other people and that's why I am so glad I was able to write my papers on something I am so passionate about. Some people may not understand when I yell at the TV in an attempt to play my part in helping the team win or when they see my family's basement decked out in a sports theme. As a sign in my basement says, "Redskins season: it's not a life and death matter it's more important." I cannot explain to non-sports-lovers why I love sports as much as I do but it is such a major part of my life I could not imagine my life any other way.