From Slowest to Just Slow (3 Goals for this Semester)

One of my goals for the semester was to improve my reading ability and speed. From elementary school to now, I am one of the slowest readers I know. I would have to read and reread (sometimes multiple times) a passage in order to absorb what was on the page. I've thought about taking speed reading classes and even tried looking up "Wiki-How to speed read". Nada. I don't have time to take a legitimate course on speed reading nor do I have the desire to read more about reading!

However, as part of both my persuasive writing and history classes, we learned about close reading and how to get the most out of what you read. I have learned to be sure to read prefaces and prologues, headings, and the table of contents to get an idea of what I'm reading before I get into it. It has helped me know what to expect. Extracting the main ideas out of each paragraph and taking notes as I read has aided me as well.

When looking at articles for my research paper and reading a book for my history class, I was able to pick up the pace a bit by applying these methods. Hopefully as I continue doing these things, I will get even faster and not dread reading assignments (that I am bound to face throughout the rest of my college career). Stay tuned for an update later on this semester! :)

Two other goals that I have are to improve my grammar and punctuation in writing. I hope to gain more knowledge about this as I get peer reviews and go to the writing center.
I also want to know how I can apply persuasive techniques in my writing, especially to millenials. I hope to learn this as I write to my peers in some projects.