Interview and Personal Reflection

I called up my mom late last Thursday night to see if she would interview me for my first college essay. She wondered why I was calling so late, but when she found out, she was happy to help and was able to answer all of my questions. I wanted to interview someone in my life who knows me well, so I interviewed Marty, who has known me my entire life. I asked her various questions that touched on the development of my writing, reading and thinking abilities. She provided me great insight into these topics and helped me realize things I had never thought about.

When do you think I started to become a more developed reader?

“You recently became a better reader and more interested in reading because friends suggested good books to you.” She said I was a good reader when I was around nine years old, even though I didn’t read much. My love of reading in high school greatly improved my reading comprehension skills. Marty added that by increasing my time spent reading, my writing also improved. My essays became better developed and are now more organized and interesting.

How has my writing evolved over the past five years?

“In middle school and in the beginning of high school, you wrote very basic papers with little substance. After writing essays for college applications, you have definitely enhanced your writing skills.” She adds that my current essays have a more logical progression with varying sentence structures and good word choice. My writing abilities slowly improved throughout middle school but have peaked in high school.

Have I always been one to think a lot before I do something? Or has it come with age?

“At a young age, you always thought a lot before doing anything. You have always put a lot of thought and effort into your work. Your ability to think and explore many things has helped you become a more creative person and writer.” My thought process has become well developed because of the reading and writing I did in high school.

What are some major differences between my past essays and my current essays?

“Your essays in middle school weren’t very organized and would sway off topic occasionally. Since then, your papers are more organized and interesting but could still use some more work.”

Do you think that I have become a better writer because of my recent interest in reading? How so?

“Yes, I definitely believe that you have become a much better writer due to reading more. I have really noticed a dramatic change in the quality of your work since you became an avid reader. Your papers are more creative, easy to follow, and interesting to read than they were before.”

Do you believe my argumentative essays are effective in persuading my audience?

“Yes, I believe you provide good examples with elaboration that is effective in your goal of persuasion. Your organization of ideas could be improved because sometimes the way you organize your papers is confusing.”

I agree that I have become a better reader recently because I have spent more time reading. My reading comprehension skills have improved but I believe they could use a lot more improvement. I know I need to work on focusing on important ideas and concepts while reading instead of the nitty gritty details.

With regard to the evolution of my writing skills, I also think that my writing has become more interesting to read. I have become better at varying my sentence structure and word choice to the point where it has required less effort to add these things.

I don’t know if I’m as creative as she says, but I do know that I have become more creative as I’ve gotten older. My thought processes have matured and as a result, my writing is more unique.

I agree that I could use more work in focusing on my topic and not straying. I know that I can avoid this when I am consciously thinking of it, but I hope to practice this skill so much that it becomes natural.

As I have gotten older, I have been able to appreciate reading more and therefore I have enjoyed it more. I do believe that my increased time spent reading correlates with my enhanced writing skills.

I don’t think that my elaboration on ideas is as effective as she says. I believe I should spend more time in this class working on coming up with several examples and elaborating on them thoroughly for research papers.