Letter of Introduction

       Dear Ms. Anna Steegmann,

      My name is Julissa Peña and I’m a freshman on my second semester, with my major decided on a B.A. in Psychology. My ethnicity is Dominican but I was born here. I do speak Spanish and I’m currently learning Japanese. A fun fact is that I actually love people of all kinds, like I love how different we are culturally, and how distinct foreign accents are. I actually love your accent, it’s full of character and also engages me whenever you lecture. I just find people’s differences amusing and charming to watch and learn about. Learning new things also brings texture to life because I think that if you’re constantly being educated, you’ll never be bored. Which brings me to my experience at college. For the longest time I found school to be a chore, but since I started college I’ve found it quite enjoyable. I start my classes late on alternate days which gives me a chance to catch up on  missed sleep from earlier days. I also have this drive to go to class now; I chose my classes and actually find the information necessary which makes learning it effortless. Maybe that’s an exaggeration but you get the message. School life has become a little more bearable and I’m basking in it.

        If I am judging myself impartially, I would say that I am a pretty well rounded student. My attendance is good because I am seldom absent. When I attend class, I participate if I’m confident in my thoughts. I am very sociable; I can be put in any group and work effectively even if there is a difference in opinions amongst the group. However, like any student, I have shortcomings. These happen to be lateness and time management. I usually get to functions either on time by the skin of my teeth or 10-15 minutes late. Very rarely am I a large chunk of time early, unless I thoroughly planned my morning. As for time management, I am a very thorough person and take a lot of time to either read, plan, or create any piece of work; but I seldom to never create or give garbage work. I’d rather give it in late than give anything less than something I deem worthy.

       My Strength in writing could also be considered my weakness. My style of writing is very efficient. When I write, I hardly ever have to revise or make heavy changes to my work, unless it is due to an alteration of the base of my argument/topic. This is because I refrain from using filler words or irrelevant  information that cannot be looped back to my main point. As for mechanics, I correct them as I write rather than waiting until the end to reread and revise. This results in less errors especially when one is running late and doesn’t necessarily have the time to perfect it. As for weaknesses my style of writing is directly a result of, my inability to write, if all of the information needed and direction of my argument/writing is not clear or organized in my head. This in turn makes it extremely hard for me to do draftwork, which for some, is an essential part of the writing process. I personally dislike draftwork because I find it redundant to produce ill informed/unclear writing, when I have no definite goal or direction for my writing.

     To be honest I don’t mind writing, I think I’m good at it or so I’ve been told but it’s SOOO TIME CONSUMING! As I’ve mentioned before I’m a very thorough person; it’s hard for me to write an assignment haphazardly. So it’s never an option to say “oh I’ll just be brief, one page tops.” Once I’ve elaborated every detail possible and correctly aligned whatever argument/topic, the one page would have turned to three. This is because every story has to be opened, elaborated, and closed properly. There have been times where I’ve reached the word limit but can’t end it because I can’t just cut my paper off halfway through.That’s just how I’m wired it’s either go big or go home.

     Reading is something that I’ve grown to love. As a child I hated it; I would make it three pages in and knock out before the fourth. Until I read this book called “The Wide Awake Princess by E.D. Baker. This book was a cute little romantic fantasy, loosely based on the classic “Sleeping Beauty”, that caught my undivided attention. Since then I read another E.D. Baker series called the “Frog Princess” and loved it. I loved her style of writing and her diction. Her books introduced me to so many words that I would search up in the dictionary, as if it was a treasure hunt for their meanings. However, my favorite book has to be “The D.U.F.F.”. For some reason, I’m a little embarrassed to say this because it’s not a famous literary piece. It’s a cute love story that happens in the midst of puberty, with all it’s insecurities and inevitable path to self-acceptance. At the time, it was really relatable and helped me explore adolescent love without experiencing it. But yes I do like reading; however, I don’t do it often because I prefer to watch TV series. I also have this excitement procrastination. About two christmas’ ago I bought a drawer of books and have yet to read them. I tend to get so excited, saving it for last, and putting it off that I never actually read it. But ONE DAY it shall be accomplished; I will read them all.

         I would prefer not to show my work to the class. I mean to be honest I love to share personal information; however, I don’t like to be judged unnecessarily. It’s not like I’m going to die or get my feelings severely hurt. It’s just that it angers me that I even gave you a chance to judge and look down at something I like, feel, or treasure. I like to make sure whoever I share information with, has a genuine connection with me or values what I have to say, even if they disagree. This is with personal information though. When it comes to formal academic work I feel a little more comfortable, but I still fear that I won’t approach the task the way it should’ve been. The only difference would be that now the whole class will see and question my intelligence. I just feel that no matter the situation I would like to be seen as competent and not belittled.

     I am excited to be in this class especially because I took this class to specifically couple my Social Psychology class. I’ll have the opportunity to apply the new psych information and feed my social science writing. Something I’m expecting from this class is to really take me out of my current mental space, give me a completely different perspective on the way I see society, the way it functions, and how these structures were originally put into motion. I also hope that this helps me improve my writing while developing a new appreciation for its art and door to creative expression. Lastly, a bonus I hope to acquire is some public speaking skills due to the interview part of this course.

Thank you for reading and hopefully this has helped you peak into who I am as your new student.

Sincerely,

              Julissa Peña