College Reading Reflection

All the Madonnas of Echo Park related assignments has left a notable change in how I
perceive the world and other peoples experiences. While the assignments havent changed my
perspective in regards to the book, it did change my perspective on who I am as an individual
and who other people are. While none of the characters are relatable to me, they can be helpful
to in dealing with strangers in real life based upon how they act such as Efrens by-the-book
mentality on one side and Freddies natural rebel behavior on the other side. Due to this, this
has helped my social skills to a degree because I know more about different personalities and
character types and because of that knowledge, has helped me communicate to others from
different walks of life on a friendly or professional level. The book hasnt changed what my
values and morals, and it hasnt even changed my decisions much, but it really has affected my
awareness of others and my empathy towards others has really changed for the better because
of Madonnas of Echo Park. My motivation for college has also changed because when I read
the lives of the characters in the novel, such as Manny Jr. and Aurora, it makes me feel good to
be in college and that I dont deal with the events that are going on in the novel such as death.
Because of this my work and assignments hold more meaning and carry more weight because
maybe I could end up like one of those characters and I am determined to not let myself fall off
the mountain Im climbing.
When I started to read more and more in college to catch up with my work and studies, I
dont think Ive improved, but rather return to a mastery level I used to have in middle school
due to having to constantly read for a high grade. Reading is one of those skills that needs
constant practice to maintain a certain mastery level, much like maintaining a second language.
My reading skills started to deteriorate in high school from an extremely strong reader to an
average one. After entering college and received a really bad score on my first reading
assignment in College 1, I decided to improve and adapt to meet the grade. I used new
strategies such as annotating my readings, but the readings that helped me a lot were my

English readings, specifically the essays from A World of Ideas by Jacobus A. Lee. The essays
were not only hard because of the content, but they were also hard because they were
translated from other languages such as Greek, Chinese, and other languages. I think these
readings alone helped improve my reading a lot. When I started reading these texts and essays,
I used a lot of resources such as help from the professor, different reading strategies, and online
summaries about each text to make sense of it all. However, I am comfortable enough to read
that book without having to use so many resources. There are some things that make me feel
like Im still reading like a high school student such as sometimes having trouble comprehending
and concentrating. I dont know how to deal with the occasional reading blocks, but overall, after
the tough readings and the subpar grades, I feel like my reading level is currently appropriate for
my age.
At the beginning of the class, when I submitted my first RRJ, the results that came back
to me was a disaster. I pretty much got a 50% on my first one and when I went to improve it, I
only got an extra two points. This can be attributed to my severe lack in reading skills AND
writing skills. After a while though, I eventually caught up to the rhythm and tempo and
eventually got my highest score on an RRJ - 18/20. While not perfect, it definitely shows that
Ive improved and can keep improving for academic and intrinsic purposes.

Starting off the year in English class, the class that helped me grow as a strong reader
and writer, we got two books, A World of Ideas and A Super Sad True Love Story. These books
dramatically helped my reading comprehension and reading skill due to the writing styles of
each. A World of Ideas dealt with philosophy and critical thinking of past writers, scientists,
philosophers, and psychologists. While the reading was hard, the content was very rich and
holds valuable information on critical thinking skills. A Super Sad True Love Story is a story set
in the future where internet jargon and such are commonplace in everyday vocabulary and
therefore made it difficult to read at first. However, after getting into it, it didnt turn out too

difficult and soon enough I finished the book. My growth as a reader and writer began after my
first essay in the class. I first got a 16/20 or a B- as a grade which isnt good nor bad. When I got
more comfortable with reading and drawing things from the text, I became more and more adept
at showing it in my essays too. My highest essay grade was a 19/20 or a near perfect paper and
I scored the highest on the writing. Ive improved because of my growth in critical thinking,
reading, and writing. All these played crucial roles in my success. However, to this day, I still
struggle with some writing fundamentals, but I have grown a lot in this semester alone.