Survey

1) My name is Chris Tenneson, I attended Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, MD, located in Anne Arundel County. I came to UMD to study engineering, I have almost always wanted to come to UMD since I have been a fan of their athletics. I have not yet decided what type of engineering I want to specialize in but I'm sure it will be either Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering. 

2)  I have never been the type of person to engage in any writing outside of the classroom. I have always been more interested in learning about science and history than any language. I recognize the importance of languages and having strong communication skills, however it has never been something I find fascinating. The only writing I do is usually academically required, in High School I mostly took Honors and AP English classes. 

3) When writing a paper I usually like to have a general idea of what I am going to write about. However, some of my best writing has been done last minute or all at one time. Since, I usually write on a given topic, assigned by the instructor, I outline my ideas and the rough draft on paper. It feels more natural when I'm writing on paper rather than typing. After completing my rough draft I then type it into the computer and look for any errors using spell check and by proof-reading it myself. 

4) Writing does not usually give me much satisfaction, more frustration than anything. However, the best piece of writing I believe I have ever done was a scholarship wrting about my love of Lacrosse. I wrote this entire essay in 1/2 an hour. I didn't even think about what I was writing, I just wrote. The words came out of my pen onto the paper like water flowing down a river, it just all came naturally. Unfortunately, this is the only experience I can recall where I was able to write in such a satisfactory and complete way, keeping one idea throughout the paper. This has lead to me only writing when i have to, usually suffering through it. 

5) The most challenging paper I have ever written was my first research paper in my freshman year of high school. Before that point, I have never had to write more than a page at a time, and this assignment had to be approximately 5 pages long. I learned a great deal about planning from this trial-by-fire experience.

6) Without a doubt, the class most beneficial to my writing was my AP European History class in my spophomore year of High School. I had an AWESOME teacher and I learned better ways to include facts and arguments together. I finally broke from the mold of a sub-par writer to a decent one....

7) Its hard for me to judge what my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer, I've never had very good feedback from my english teachers as to how I could improve my overall writing. I've been told that my sentences can have the same structure and I should try to use more variety in the structure of my papers. A strength for me would be that I incorporate quotes very well but I can often rely on them too much. 

8) I need the most support with varying my sentences and extending my vocabulary. I often use the same words over and over, and I sometimes repeat what I'm saying in different ways. I also need lots of help with forming a strong opening paragraph. I find the first sentence of any paper I write to be the hardest one. 

9) The easiest topics for me to write about are the ones that you can find lots of information about them easily. Science or History based subjects which I have lots of knowledge of are very easy to write about. Also, I find it easier if I have a clear stance on the issue I'm writing about, if I'm skeptical easier way I find that I want to support both sides equally and my writing often suffers as a result. 

10) A course that focuses on argumentation will be very beneficial to me because I want to improve that aspect of my writing. I want to be able to stay on topic and find the facts that will convince someone of my point of view.