Let’s pause and reflect on how long ago that was…(memory fades as age sets in). Ah yes, I remember. I was born with the five paragraph essay genetically inscribed on my DNA. But since I still have a few hundred more words to write, I suppose I should make up a story about a learning process…. I think I learned a lot in 1010 and 2010, though I don’t remember much about either of those classes. I didn’t take 3080 early in my major courses, so I didn’t learn much about five paragraph critical essays until I was about done being an English major. I think 3080 was about the time when I started to get a real feel for what was expected in college writing. I’m not sure why my upper-division professors let me get such good grades on stuff that was badly organized and didn’t have any transitions. I remember trying to put some of them together and not being able to come up with transition sentences. What has really changed my writing is tutoring. I feel like I finally “get” it. I guess it goes to the old sayings about how you don’t learn it until you teach it. I’m still not sure about an argumentative paper or a personal narrative. I’ve never written one (that I can recall) and I’d have to spend a lot of time working on the form. I’d almost say I’m excited for my next research paper so I can put my new skills to use, but that seems like asking for trouble. On a different perspective, I think my newfound appreciate for the art of the five paragraph essay (or research paper) has shown me that like any writing, it’s something that a person works on and practices at all during their academic career. And even after, any kind of writing is writing that should be constantly revised. Maybe I should say something about how the written word is a haiku—the writer is forever in search of a word that’s just a little better than the other….but that would sound a little silly, so I won’t say anything about it. I probably should have written this blog as a five paragraph essay. If only I were that creative. Anyways, working in the writing center will influence everything I write from now on. So, again, I’m glad for the chance to do the work—even when I still haven’t figured out how to check a paper’s “flow.”