I have been pleasantly surprised with my RCL class this year. I was a little nervous coming in, with it being an honors class and not knowing what to expect, but It turned out to be a lot better than I expected. The Honors level allows for more creativity and gives me more of the responsibility of making sure I get my work done in a timely fashion, which I like.
I also feel like I learned a lot during this year. I learned to be more analytical of common rhetoric that I previously didn’t even notice. I learned about constructing arguments and categorizing different logical strategies. In addition, I learned the importance of connecting things to the modern day in order to show the reader the importance of the topic in discussion. I also learned a lot about giving speeches in front of groups. However, this is the area that I still think I need the most work.
I’m more confident than when I started the class with giving speeches, but I still am nervous. The idea of talking in front of a group of my peers is still frightening. I think this is something that will just take time and experience to reach any high level of confidence with and the second half of this class i’m sure will provide some of this. Looking back, I wish my High school would have done a better job preparing me for this, but there is nothing I can do about that now.
I look forward to the second half of this class and hope I continue to improve in the areas I struggle with.