Reflections of Jessica Ford

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
-George Bernard Shaw



Dear Reader,
Than you for taking the time to read my portfolio of my work this quarter. For those of you who don’t know me my name is Jessica Ford. I am twenty-one years old and I live in Everett with my husband Max and our dog Leo. Aside from working forty hours a week, I love to read, beautify my house and travel to new destinations.

In high school I did not try my hardest, and unfortunately did not pass. After realizing what a huge mistake I had made, I waisted no time and enrolled in a program at Everett Community College called Youth Re-Engagement. After three long and difficult quarters I finally had the diploma I was longing for. At that point in my life I did not feel it necessary to continue in my education since I had what I wanted. Time passed and my life felt like it was moving too fast. I was happily married, overwhelmed with purchasing our first home and working full time. I knew there was something missing in my life, it was to learn. After being out of school for quite sometime now it made me long for it. I wanted something more out of my life than just working. Summer of ’08 was when I decided that I was going to start school in the fall. I was just going to take one class per quarter because Max was in school to become a Respiratory Therapist and wouldn’t graduate until June of ’09. So then after he was done I could go back full time.

Since then I have taken two english classes and am in the process of finishing my third one. I have never been great in english, so I knew there was some sort of challenge ahead of me. My first two classes I took were english 97 & 98. Leila Bowers, my teacher, taught the classes very well and I passed with flying colors. I figured english 101D would be the same. However, I’m not going to lie and say it was easy because it wasn’t. It was a challenge for me but a challenge worth perusing.

Our class was broken down into three categories; identity, community and tradition. We read different passages in our book ReMix by Catherine Latterell, watched movies, discussed topics in groups and wrote. I learned a lot about myself throughout this class. We have learned about identity and how it can be shaped on choices that we make in our life. We’ve discussed the purpose of communities and that “[p]eople belong to many different communities based on their interests, needs, and values, and, as these shift, so do the communities they identify with”(86). We last learned about tradition and different types of it and why it’s significant, and how it impacts the American culture. We talked about what makes a tradition a tradition ,they are everyday things we do for no reason, they don’t even have to make sense.

The four pieces of work I have chosen demonstrate a little bit of each category. I feel that they are the best and most enjoyable things I have written in this class and they are,



1. Critical Thinking- Timed Write Lone Star
2. Revision- Community of a High School Drop Out
3. Awareness of Audience and Voice- Online Dating Vs Traditional Dating
Writers Choice- What’s in your wallet?

I felt that throughout the quarter each paper got a little better each time. I think the area I struggled most on was my thesis. I need to come up with a more solid thesis that is debatable. I have gained a lot of insight to to Tradition, identity and community. Even though this class was a struggle I’m glad I got to be apart of it.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely,
Jessica Ford