Mohamed Abouelker       

Professor: Sara Jacobson 

Class: Writing of engineering 

Final assessment essay

When I got accepted to the City College of New York, I started to think about English classes. As an engineering major, English was never my strong point. When I found out that I had to take a writing class, I struggled to find one that I would enjoy and would help me in the pursuit of my degree. My high school did not prepare me well enough for college, especially in terms of English. In college, I came across an engineering course that also counted as an English course, I recalled the information that I learned in high school about engineering and technology. As soon as I saw the syllabus, everything got messed up, I was overcome by a fear of not making it to the end and I thought that I would not be able to get a good grade. When I too a closer look at what assignments were to be due, I was surprised. It was my first time learning how to do a lab report or a technical description. It was so complicated in the beginning, but, with time the things got clearer and I was able to do good with on my papers.

The first couple of lectures were about introducing ourselves. The next step was the technical description, and that is when I started to understand what the class was really about without facing any obstacles. I got introduced to some inventions that had benefited the world throughout our history which helped me understanding their technical description more clearly. For example, my technical description was about telescopes. These descriptions helped me develop and create ideas for this assignment. The technical description helped me know what a telescope is and how scientists are using it. This activity helped me to be more involved in class instead of being shy or embarrassed. 

We got more involved with the topic of the class especially, when Prof. Sara gave us an assignment about how to make our own lab report. For me, this assignment was the hardest thing because it involved a lot of research and learning lots of information. These assignments were difficult, but again, with time I understood everything about it. She gave us a couple of weeks to do the first draft then she could gave us feedback about it. The feedback helped us to develop our lab reports and do better on the final one. My lab report was about the “Behavior Change of the Human Approaching by an ExperimentalMedicine”. By doing many types of research I found out that this report was so important. However, it got much easier after listening to my classmates about the feedback made things much clearer for me. Also, it made me have a clear image of all the report analysis and it was the first time for me to write a self-reflection on something so it increased my writing skills.

Going more into the obstacles that I faced throughout the semester, the coronavirus came and turned everything upside down. I didn’t think that one day that my classes would be online and that I wouldn’t be able to go to campus anymore. We resumed our classes online through zoom sessions, then Prof. Sara gave us the project assignment. In my opinion, I think it was the most fun and stressful thing in this class. Prof. Sara put us in groups of four and every group had to create an idea and present it. My group members and I found some obstacles in communication in the beginning, but once we found a way to communicate we started right away. We were thinking of many ideas but in the end, we all agreed about creating a robot with recycled materials that could help in stopping the spread of coronavirus. Once I started the paper, I did not know what to write about or how to could start. A brainwave popped out of my mind and I started to think out of the box on how I can develop the robot more. Also, with the help of my group members, it was much easier because Karina divided our work and everyone was helping the other to make it easy for ourselves. It inspired me to finish my paper in a well developed and organized fashion. However, my group members helped me do better in the final paper. Also, joining Raihan in the last couple of days helped us to create a very developed and organized video that expressed our ideas. Also, I can’t deny the great job that Rafael did in helping each other with a technical description of the Robot. 

What we’ve done in class is reflected by my improved writing skills overtime. Every time we were asked to write a discussion on blackboard helped me and improve and organize my ideas than before and there was no need to improvise words that could help me in volunteering in class. Also, the final reflection helped me gain more words and experience that put me under pressure to explain my feelings towards each paper I finished and it always gave me enough space and freedom to talk about it.

The time has passed and we’ve reached the end of this semester. The end stresses me and my classmates; not only about this class but in general. Preparing for the final assessment essay was not easy for me because I have never done anything like this before. Prof. Sara made everything simple for me and all my classmates, especially when she wrote what we had to do in detail on the syllabus of the course site. Then, we started to do the portfolio and that wasn’t the first time we used technology in class especially after the classes were online. The portfolio is about submitting everything that we have done in the class through the semester into a website that belongs to the Cuny system so important to use during the semester for a couple of times. I did a portfolio for  Prof. Furlong in the fall semester and he helped do it so I am kind of familiar with it. 

 This semester, under these circumstances of coronavirus affected many people and in different ways. Some of them think that the online classes are good and it saves a lot of time, especially in New York. Online courses can be very helpful for a busy student, particularly online courses at the college. The courses are flexible as far as time management is concerned because during a week students do not have to move and sit in a school at a particular time. Some online courses could be more cost-effective than traditional courses, and it can be performed at a rate in which the student is confident and others would think it’s hard to take courses online because they can focus more in class instead of sitting in front of a screen.

 I started the semester having problems with the development of my writing skills but with time, during this current semester, I can say that I got much better than before and everything I practiced and had conflicts with was so useful for me and helped me understand how to fix these past issues I had before. Furthermore, working along with my classmates has pushed me to understand more ideas and be more open to different options. They also have helped me with their feedback on my papers, advice that can put me back on track while working together. Overall, this class helped me a lot and I am very lucky that I had this class in my first year in college.