Personal Narrative: My Advanced Composition Class

As it may be deduced from my response to this prompt, I am currently enrolled in an integrated Advanced Composition course. Through this introduction of my goals for this class, my future career, a description of what writing is to me, and a recent life lesson, I hope to reveal who I am as a writer and as an enthusiastic pupil.

My goals for taking this class are no doubt typical: I want to succeed. My main goal is not, however, to just “get an easy A”, because what would I gain from an education without comprehension? This class will hopefully fulfill my wish to become a more knowledgeable writer, and teach me how to succeed in life past this class, past high school, and past university- at least when it comes to writing. I hope to discover

It may not seem like quite a shock due to my enrollment in four separate biomedical science courses, but I would like to ultimately end up as a neurosurgeon. Mountains of suggestions of what I should be “when I grow up” have been hurled at me since my early childhood. Regardless, my interests stayed relatively the same; I have always been involved in the arts, music, and medicine. Which of my hobbies I was pursuing changed from time to time, but I have permanently decided on the medical field of study, since my career goals have remained unaltered by any experience in the past four years. I have always loved learning about medicine, but unlike most others, I lack a passionate, touching spiel about how my true life’s purpose is to help those in need. I simply like medicine. I know it will be an lengthy, arduous journey, but I’m willing to do what is necessary. Despite the fact that my career probably won’t start until I am well into my late twenties, I have recognized that every step towards my goal is a part of the career-developing

One lesson I learned recently is to apologize less. Apologizing less is the polar opposite of what I had grown up hearing, but employing this new way of thinking in my day to day interactions with loved ones and strangers alike has improved my life drastically. While in the Netherlands with my foreign exchange student this summer, I noted the inherently American custom of apologizing for insignificant occurrences, regardless of whether it was anyone’s fault. After doing some research, I came to the realization that the word “sorry” loses effectiveness with repetition. When I started replacing “sorry” with “excuse me” or ceasing its use altogether, I noticed an increase in effectiveness of my apologies. I was taken more seriously when I verbalized any regret of mine. Now, genuine apologies are all I allow. This new life approach has left me not only happier, but relatively