My name is Gabriel Ayala. As a writer, I would say I have a few strengths, such as connecting with my writing. Meaning that I can produce a better piece of work because it is a part of me, which makes it more authentic. I am particularly good at writing fictional pieces as well as analyzing information. A few weaknesses I have are that I do not slow down when necessary. I find this to be bad while writing and while proofreading. It causes me to make a lot of mistakes and prevents me from producing the best work possible. Another weakness is that I do not proofread my work or check for corrections. Now, it is not because I do not like having second opinions or anything of that nature. I just naturally do not check my work, which I have noticed can cause me to lose points for a lot of silly mistakes. My final weakness is being disorganized. I am all over the place when it comes to writing, whether it is brainstorming or even creating an essay. I can organize myself a lot better.

I chose this class because I hope to gain many things from it, not only as a student but also as a person. I feel like I can improve every aspect of my writing. I need to learn how to speak to people. I am not afraid of speaking to people; I just do not feel comfortable doing it on the spot, per se. Thus, I am excited about the research part of the course. It will improve my ability to speak to people and ask questions that provoke answers from them. Overall, I hope to learn from this class the skills and necessary tools to become a better writer.

I would say my relationship with writing has been a very curious one all my life. I grew up hating writing because I found it redundant and pointless. I was always the math person in the family, while my little sister excelled in writing. I did not like writing because it involved a lot of thinking and writing about things that I did not care about. Occasionally, there would be times when I would happen to write about a topic I was very adamant about, and I would produce very high-quality work, but the passion was just not there. During my junior year of high school, I was writing a lot of short stories and novels for my English class, and I felt a rekindling inside of me. Everything I wrote, I felt connected to, and I began to enjoy writing because it turned into an art for me, a way to express myself through characters and even research papers. I always found a way to make it a part of me.

I enjoy reading a lot, whether it’s a book or an article online; I am always reading. I find reading to be the gateway between knowledge and understanding the world. I have learned many things from reading that I can incorporate into my life right now. Being able to visualize a story or a scene in a book is such a fun thing to do. It feels like a dream, and if the book is descriptive enough, you can also feel like you’re in the scene. My favorite genre of books to read is neuroscience books. I love reading about research and studies done on the brain. The brain is the most complex thing in the world, and trying to understand even a tiny piece of it is so fascinating to me. Knowing why humans act the way they do and do the things they do.

I have had valuable experiences with my college classes. I know I enjoy many discussion-based classes as opposed to lectures. I learned how to manage time better and how to finish assignments the night they are due. As for things that did not work for me, I would say the only thing that did not work or me was procrastination. I got too comfortable with a lot of due dates, and they crept up on me, causing me to be behind on a lot of work and be incredibly stressed for no reason. I have learned to take notes about everything in class. I would much rather have too many notes than too few notes. Adding to that, I learned how to take notes before college. I had never taken any notes. Now, I take so many notes that I get cramps while writing.