Last night and this morning, I was so very stressful trying to finish homework assigned weeeeks ago by Mr. Nam. Who is Mr. Nam, you might ask. So here he is, I am writing this post to talk about his Writing class.
Lemme first tell the remaining of my story. At the start of afternoon, I quit trying as I knew it was IMPOSSIBLE to finish my homework. Then I brought the finished parts and some other pieces like my Cover Letter, my application essay for GES scholarship and IU McKinney merit-based one, and my Personal Statement. It has not yet ended here. I was thirty minutes late for the appointment and could not feel more ashamed. Luckily he was not irritated at all!
Let’s go on with Mr. Nam’s Writing Class! After the first Class Meeting, I had got inspired enough to write a post here, but I had many other things to do. The next Class Meeting however, was full of boredom. He just taught us things I’d already known, like the structure of a argumentative writing. I was somewhat regret my choice; somewhat hateful to Le Giang for her seeming untrue review ’bout the class. Today, the first Private Meeting overturned my impression. Now I will stress all my lessons I got after the three meetings.
1/ The biggest remind: READas much as possible! READ, READ, READ AND READ. There is no other ways to learn, especially learn a language without reading it.
For me, reading will bring a lot of benefits if I do regularly. Read law books for my study; read English novels to enhance my language command; read articles to use English as native speakers. Dissappointingly, I havent yet acquired a regular routine for reading. I should (1) learn to arrange my timetable smarter; (2) spend less time on Facebook. Oh btw, in the last holiday, I have just realized a fallacy. There is no one can both play hard and study hard AT THE SAME TIME. Previously, I admired people who simultaneously ace academic study and involve in various extra-curricular activities. I wanted it badly to be like them, but I did the wrong method. I joined in activities, hung out with friends when I still had a lot of assignments to do. I felt nervous all the time I played. As a consequence, I was seen always busy with studying. How counter-productive my method was! My remedy is CONCENTRATION. This method is never out of date. The more concentrated I am, the less time I spend on learning, the more time I can play with friends and enrich my spiritual life! Gosshh I takes me 12 years to realize this more than familiar way!!
2. Part of the assignment is summaries of 4 articles per week. This assignment is damn interesting and beneficial. I see its benefit even before I learn at Nam’s class. However, as he said “there is no force to push you doing it”. Had I have enough commitment to follow this method, I would have been a more powerful English learner. The method helps me to (1) get the message in article, of course, as I have to understand thoroughly the whole article to turn it in a no-more-than-8-sentence summary; (2) learn how to USE words in context. That are what I think I get from this task. Mr. Nam however, reveals me the first two purposes of it (1) to know words; (2) to use words. There is a third purpose but he would like us to figure it out at the end of the course.
3. I know how terrible my Cover Letter and GES application are! In the Cover Letter, Nam said I failed to provide evidences. In addition, I just talked about my gains from the job, instead of listing out their gains, which is the tip “know your audience” in writing. What’s more, I failed to show my passion, my enthusiasm towards the internship. He suggested me to show it by imagining myself standing inside their office and doing things.
4. Sometimes I was confused what to write in the first body paragraph of a Cover Letter. Should it be my qualification to do the job or the benefits I may bring to employer. Nam solved the mystery! Write it in a chronological order. Moreover, he said a Cover Letter should contain the following two infos: (1) I’m good enough for the job (I’m fit the job); (2) I’m here to help. In supporting (1), we should write about our experiences or achievements related to the job in question. In supporting (2), we should write about the benefits they may gain if we work for them. In this paragraph, also show our ENTHUSIASM and WILLINGNESS TO LEARN. Person with willingness to learn was always highly welcomed, he added. For example, we may show our willingness as follows “I major in Business Law but if I am assigned with a criminal case, I will be happy to do it with careful research”
5. The last one is also the last realization on Cover Letter matter. If you once read this somewhere, be careful: In a Cover Letter, do not repeat what you had stated in your Curriculum Vitae (hereinafter ‘CV’). I do exactly as I was told so I failed VILAF internship, I think. I simply did not describe my roles in, say, Moot Contest or IPChallenge Gameshow since I was afraid of the ‘repeat’ don’t. It also resulted in the lack of evidences I mentioned above. Actually, a CV is a list of WHAT you do while the latter is a description of HOW you do it. That you don’t repeat WHAT you did in a Cover Letter doesnot mean you don’t neither describe HOW you did it. It is how you did that matters to employers rather than what you did! A BIG LESSON LEARN! Next time, be careful with tips!
Oh what a day!! I will come back edit this first draft when I have time. I hope this initial impression of the class will stay still until the end of it!
❤
Amaranth Austen 