Celina Malave – Conversation 1

When writing about her experiences in “Proficiency”, Shannon Nichols initially feels that her writing abilities are above average, with writing being one of her best subjects alongside math. However, after failing two writing tests, she lost confidence, motivation, and enthusiasm for writing. She feels that standardized testing is unfair; the individuals grading the tests do not allow students to understand what has caused them to fail such a seemingly easy task. If I was Mrs. Brown and had to explain to Shannon, I would tell her not to be discouraged by something like the proficiency exam. So long as a student pays attention in class and completes the necessary work to advance their skills, an exam that only tests for specific content and skills is not a proper measure of one’s ability. In my time with writing, I have felt discouraged or unmotivated on several occasions. One such example would be during my sophomore year of high school. Being under Covid restrictions, I lacked the drive to complete assignments to the best of my ability. My writing was below average, lacking the attention to detail it usually would contain. My teachers were critical of my essays. The criticism they gave made my drive for writing completely vanish. I feel that I still have much to learn in terms of growing with technicality and organization in writing.