This unit was all about becoming acclimated to writing a college essay and learning how to properly compose a synthesis essay. This paper was honestly different from any writing assignment I have had in the past because I have never had to write a synthesis essay before, and I honestly did not know what a synthesis essay was before this semester. However, I think that all of the practice synthesis pieces we wrote as a class helped me learn a lot and made sure that my first major assignment in this class was not the first synthesis essay I have ever written. I think that the most helpful class we had for this essay (aside from the practice essays) was the Wednesday when we were told to rewrite our entire introductory paragraphs. I did not expect that exercise to help, but I was surprised to see that my finished product was much much better than my initial attempt. I then thought about how much effort I had even put into the initial attempt and was honest with myself and proved myself I could do much better. This helped me grow as an academic because I taught myself that if I just put forth effort at every stage in the writing process, the final product will always be an acceptable piece. I will be sure to set aside plenty of time to write my outline, collect my thoughts, organize them, then write and revise again and again. This will ensure that I will improve as a writer from here on out, which is all I can hope for.