De Anza College Influence of My Educational Experience Essay

Directions: In order to complete the assignment, you will need to have read all of the essays assigned, and based on those readings, as well as your own personal experiences and ideas, answer the question in a full and complete essay. Your essay should follow the guidelines given in the class syllabus.

The readings are:

“The Essentials of a Good Education” by Diane Ravitch

“Against School” by John Taylor Gatto

“I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose

“Learning to Read” by Malcolm X

“Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon

“Still Separate, Still Unequal” by Jonathan Kozol

“A Prostitute, a Servant, and a Customer-Service Representative: A Latina in Academia” by Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo

“Don’t Send Your Kids to the Ivy League” by William Deresiewicz

In what ways did your prior educational experience prepare (or not prepare you) for higher education?

Obviously since you are a college student, education has some allure or appeal for you. You are not here just because you are looking to occupy your time. Assuming that you are taking classes here at City College of San Francisco as a way to transfer into a four-year college or complete a certificate program, what are your ultimate goals? However, before you even started taking classes at City College, you had prior experiences in educational institutions, basically K-12.

Questions to consider: What kind of student are you? Are you the same kind of student that you were in the past, assuming that you have changed? Are you disciplined? Are you a self-starter? What kind of learning environment best suits you as a learner and contributor in the classroom? Is there a particular teaching style that appeals to you the most? What was your least favorite experience in a classroom (it does not have to be an English class)? What was your favorite example? Think about why the experiences were your favorite or least favorite (the “why” will help you really explain the experience for your reader). If you really understand your strengths and weaknesses as a student, and we all have them, then what are you going to do to maintain your educational path in college?

This assignment is asking you about yourself, so you can write using the personal pronouns of I, me, and my. Your essay should contain 5 paragraphs—an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Your body paragraphs should focus on ways in which your prior educational experiences prepared or underprepared you for college, each focusing on 1 example. You will want to be sure to fully explain how the prior experiences shaped you; remember, your reader was not there with you, so you need to place your reader in the moment so that it can be fully understood or experienced.

Use Times New Roman 12, 1” margins, and all of the other requirements laid out in the syllabus.

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