"Dorothy"
Lessons Learned for the future

     From the moment I received my acceptance letter to George Mason University, I was an official college student. That was one of the proudest moments of my life, but I never pictured myself already finishing my first semester. Throughout New Century College, I have grown to become my own individual, yet also a leader and a group member. Within my first semeter, I have learned to recognize both my strengths and my weakenesses.
     During my first few classes of NCLC 110, I was able to realize that writing was not my strength. I started every introductory paragraph with a quote, and my overall essay tended to be disorganized. Throughout the course, I was able to develop better writing skills, especially confidence within my writing. The first skill that I developed was jumping right into an introduction. I would put my reader into an experience, which happened to also create attraction to the essay. Although, my discovery project was the finishing touch on my improvements within NCLC 110. It might not have been the best essay, but it was one of the most organized essays I've ever written. NCLC 110 made me become a stronger writer, which will definitely be helpful within the future.
     Another aspect of NCLC 110 I can take with me in the future is the technology aspect. Even though I had previous knowledge of how to use Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel, the course gave me a better understanding of how to use those programs. These programs helped me create all of my visual presentations for class, such as the Higher Education Project. Besides these programs, I also learned how to set up a website. This will definitely help in the future because I want to become a teacher. I will be able to create lessons for my students on my own website. With my new skill of being able to embed videos and music onto a website, I can also show my students something to watch or listen to during class. A website can be a new way of storing something in a location rather than having a bunch of USB drives. Because of NCLC 110, I have become more technologically skilled.
      At the start of NCLC 130, global history seemed to be an easy topic. There was no time to realize that there were many more concepts and ideologies that needed to be explored within global history. Throughout the course, the concept that gave me the most knowledge for the future is globalization. This topic was the most interesting because originally, I did not know much about the topic, and it also affects the world we live in right now. If I wanted to have an intelligent conversation about third-world countries, I would be able to because I have the knowledge now. Globalization affects places like Jamaica, Africa, Carribean Islands, and more. If I was to go on vacation, I will think twice about where I am going. I would probably still go to one of those places, but I will have more appreciation now for all of the opportunities I have because of being a U.S. Citizen.
     Throughout NCLC 130, I also got a better understanding of how to research. I learned about what key words to use when searching on a scholarly database. I learned about what topics would work best under larger topics. All of these research skills are beneficial in the future because within college, I will have many more research papers to come. These research skills helped me with all of the discovery projects and the integrative projects. For example, I knew where to look for migration articles dealing with German immigration and Italian immigration. Overall, these research skills made me more confident when working on a paper.
     Lastly in NCLC 130, we were able to learn how to make the appearance of a website better. For example, we learned how to put pictures in a background, or how to put a border around a table or picture. This was a benefit for me because in the future, my websites will be able to look more professional. This class also gave us more experience on linking websites to other websites. There were also ideas pointed out that we should separate an assignment, instead of putting it all on one page. This avoids the problem of having to scroll a lot horizontally and vertically. We were able to figure out ways to get the most attraction to a site.
    Overall, within this first semester, we have gained many skills that are vital to our future. Not only did we learn, but we gained much confidence as well. When completing tasks for class, we now know how to be comfortable, instead of being stressed out about something. This semester made me keep my uniqueness, while being able to share my uniqueness with others.

Based on the movie The Wizard of Oz
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