During my time taking this course, I have had the ability to develop many of my writing strategies to strengthen my essays. I had already been using some of these strategies however, I did not really see how important they were to my essay writing. However, I have recently had the chance to zero in on my mistakes in my writing because of these strategies. I have made major improvement in my writing after the experience I gained with my many essays and assignments in this course. In these writings I have used more of these writing processes and practices and I saw progress. I realized that these writing processes have benefited my writing skills.  

One strategy that helped me to improve my writing skills was getting feedback. I was really able to see the flaws in my writing after getting feedback from others. This is probably one of the biggest factors that has allowed me to grow the most as a writer. When I get feedback on my work I am allowing myself to see my work in someone else’s perspective instead of my own, which I think is very important. I have gotten feedback from my peers in this course as well as from friends outside this course. Getting advice on my work from many different angles really helps me to get an idea of where I have to take my essay in the next draft. An assignment in this course where I got feedback was the exploratory essay. In my first draft I had a really vague thesis statement and did not go into detail within my paragraphs. I had personally thought my essay was fine and only a minimal amount of work was needed to make my essay better. However, my peers did not think the same about my work. After they read my essay, they told me many points I needed to fix, such as my thesis and my body paragraphs. It was only after getting this feedback that I realized how much I need to fix my essay. My essay ended up taking a whole new direction. I had a more narrow thesis statement and more detail in my body paragraphs. I do not think my essay would be even close to what it is in the final draft without getting feedback. This feedback from my peers helped me to realize problems in my writing that I am not even aware of. In the past I would revise my own work after I am done writing what I am working on. However, having someone else revise as well ensures that there are minimal flaws or mistakes in my work. I will definitely use this method in the future in my future essays as it will allow me to have someone else’s opinion on my work and will allow minimal mistakes in my work.  

Another method I have used in my essay writing is creating an outline before writing my drafts. This is another major factor that goes into my essay writing. With this method I am able to plan out exactly what I am going to write in my essay. It allows me to have a foundation for when I move on to my later drafts. After I have this foundation, I then build on it until I eventually have my final draft. This method really helped me to start off my essay and plan it out instead of going right into my draft. I used this method in both the creative nonfiction essay and the exploratory essay in this course. I first wrote my thesis statement and what my essay was going to be about. I then started to write my details for my introduction. This is where I would start getting into the topics I would be discussing later in my essay. The most amount of work was done for my body paragraphs. In this part of my outline, I separated these body paragraphs based on the different parts of my essay. I would then write about different points that I would be able to discuss within these different parts of my essay. There would be up to about 3 points for each topic in my essay. These paragraphs are where I had the most details in the essay. This is also where I spent the most amount of time in my outlining process. I then moved on to my conclusion to finish off my essay. This outline process really helps me to plan out my essay and make sure I am going in the right direction. I will use this method in the future to plan my essays better and to lay a good foundation for my essay.

Revising my work is another process I have been using to make my essays better. It is the final step I take in all my writing. In this process I am able to make sure I have eliminated all errors and mistakes in my final draft. When I revise my work I try to read it as if I am the reader or the audience I am writing to. This helps me to see if my work gets across smoothly and accurately to the reader. When revising my work, I end up editing my work to get rid of my mistakes. I am able to fix my mistakes such as in organization which was a big difficulty for me in my writing progress. However, by revising some of my work as well as hearing the advice of others I was able to notice this flaw in my writing. The essay that I realized the effectiveness of this method was the creative nonfiction essay. It taught me to focus on my topic without going off into different topics and ideas when organizing my work. In this essay I put parts of my writing in the right places so my ideas were not lost. This includes parts of my essay such as where I had focused on culture and sports in different paragraphs. I chose to talk about culture first in this essay so it would better introduce my identity and make more sense to the reader. Before revising this essay I was all over the place in terms of reaching my point with the reader. After I started to organize my work, it became much easier to understand my writing. I will use this lesson in future essays as it will help me to get my message across better to the readers. It allows my work to be more clear. 

In conclusion, the many new practices in my writing allowed me to grow as a writer and make significant progress. I plan to keep using all these new practices I have used in my writings as I have seen much improvement with them. I have become a tremendously better writer due to these processes. I also plan to try new practices in the future in hope that it will help me grow as a writer. These practices will definitely benefit me as I write more in the future. I have already grown so much as a writer because of these practices. These methods have allowed me to strengthen my essay writing. I would like to use these in the future to use them more frequently and try to be as flawless as I can with my essays.

There are many factors that contribute to my identity. However, if I were to choose just a few that made up my identity the most it would be my culture, sports career as well as the place where I was brought up. These few factors are some of the biggest that make up who I am. Media plays a big role in society in modern day. It has the power to impact these factors of our identity. It ultimately has an influence on who we are. 

My culture is one factor of my identity and is a big part of my life. I come from a Sri Lankan household, where I live with my parents and my grandmother who were all born in Sri Lanka. Although we all live in America, we still tend to follow a Sri Lankan lifestyle rather than a more western one. There are many things that make up this Sri Lankan lifestyle including the food we eat , clothes we wear and the traditions we take part in. I have always eaten some kind Sri Lankan dish everyday for at least one meal. This would most often be rice as many Sri Lankans also eat it daily as part of the tradition. At night, I usually wear a sarong instead of pajamas and it is something that feels quite normal to me. I have also learned and played Sri Lankan traditional drums since I was a kid. It was the first instrument that I ever learned and it feels amazing to be a part of that tradition. Traditions like these are part of my lifestyle and I can not imagine living without them.

Media helps me to connect to my culture in many ways. One way is through social media such as Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook. Through these platforms, my family and I have come across content created by many other Sri Lankans. One type of content that has a great impact on my identity is the food content. My family is able to see similar recipes shared by other Sri Lankans and integrate them into their daily cooking.  I am also able to see content by Sri Lankans who live in America and other western countries. This content allows me to understand more of who I am as a Sri Lankan living in the U.S and I am able to see my life in a different perspective. 

Another factor that makes up my identity is my sports career. I am a wrestling athlete and a track athlete. Most of my time in high school and middle school was spent on sports. I have spent a lot of time going to tournaments and matches. The training leading up to them takes much of my time as well. Wrestling is a unique sport for me because it has allowed me to realize what I am capable of. I was able to push myself beyond what I thought was capable of. This allowed me to become the person I am today as I am able to endure many hardships even outside of sports. The sport gave me values which I hold onto in real work such as hard work as well as my mentality. Wrestling allows me to have a strong mental health as well and physical health. The sport has ultimately allowed me to become a very fit individual. 

Media has affected my sports career as well. This is mostly through platforms such as Youtube and Instagram.  I very often watch videos of high level wrestlers which inspires me to one day be like them. I also can learn many techniques of different wrestlers by watching these videos. I also watch other videos by fitness creators and motivational speakers which has helped to motivate me to keep moving forward. This has helped me to stay focused and keep staying true to my values such as hard work and mental toughness.

My hometown of Staten Island is also a big factor of my identity. I have lived there my whole life and it was not until college where I started to travel to other parts of New York to study. I know almost every big avenue and landmark in this place. Most of my time has been spent going to the mall with my friends or going to the ballpark to watch a game. Staten Island is a small part of New York with a small population compared to the rest of New York City. This has allowed me to be able to make friends and build connections with people.  

The media affects this factor of my identity in many ways. This can be through the news, social media, newspapers and many more. There are news organizations in Staten Island that are well known in the borough, the most famous being Staten Island Advance. The advance has been spreading news through many platforms about what is happening around Staten Island. This helps me to keep in touch with where I am from. There are also newspapers that get distributed around the Island. Many times, the newspaper has written articles about my school, my friends and even myself. In this way, things that are happening in my everyday life are being captured in this form of media. 

In conclusion, the media has the power to impact different factors of my identity. It definitely plays a role in my life and has an influence on many different aspects of my life. These factors make up who I am. It has allowed me to have different perspectives, have a specific mindset as well as stay updated with my environment. The factors from my culture to my sports career to my hometown have all, in some way, been impacted by social media.

Sleep is one the most important things which the human body needs to properly function. Sleep is necessary for our bodies to get enough rest and to repair itself for the day. It is healthy to have at least 8 hours of sleep every night to meet the optimal requirements. Failing to meet this requirement can lead to some sort of impairment in one’s life. A person’s failure to sleep enough can lead to drowsiness, tiredness, and other unnecessary behavior. “When duration of sleep drops below seven hours, and especially when it starts to move toward six and half hours or less, a number of different disorders begin to increase in prevalence,” says Dr. Dinges.(Worley). 

However, in today’s world there are many things that could distract us from our sleep. One of the most common killers of sleep is technology and its applications. These applications can be games, email, or work related. The worst of these applications includes social media. Social media has grown tremendously throughout the past decade. There are a wide variety of users from different ages and backgrounds. Anyone who has access to the internet can be a social media user. Social media has the ability to distract us from our sleep. It has become a major killer of our sleep  especially because it can be accessed by many people.

Social media is one of the most important inventions of this century. It has changed the way we can communicate on a massive scale. It is a very common type of media used in our world today. Millions of people from around the world use it to connect with family and friends. It can be argued that the invention of social media was as great of an innovation as the telephone. The creation of social media has allowed us to communicate with each other like never before. It gives people the ability to communicate in whatever way they want to. It is possible to interact with others using social media as mass media or a person can still communicate in a one to one form of communication. 

There can be however a productive use of social media. It can be used to create many opportunities for an individual. A cell phone in today’s world can be used for many purposes. It is used for more than just calls and texts. A phone can be used for email, videos, taking pictures, and browsing the internet. It can even be said that the phone has evolved to be a mini computer. “Social networks are actively used by entrepreneurs to promote their goods and services, politicians to communicate with the public, the media to publish news, public figures to broadcast their opinions to a wide audience (Husin, Khairi & Mohamad Nazeri 2021). 

Social media has a variety of productive and worthwhile uses. One of these uses is that social media can also be used for work purposes in the modern day. This is another reason why it is so applicable and used in today’s world. An example of this could be in the business field. Many people with access to technology have the ability to create their own business and promote using social media. People may also use social media to employ others for their business or to seek employment. For example, a real estate agent that may use social media to reach new customers. Social media for this reason has a great impact in the lives of many and has acted as a life changer. 

However, even for uses like this, an excess use of social media can still be detrimental to a person’s life. The excess time that is used on social media can affect one’s balance of work and life. This means that someone can spend an ample amount of time on social media which may hinder one from spending time with people they love.  “We argue that these emotional reactions, particularly in response to posts from colleagues, have the potential to influence work-related outcomes such as work–life balance, job burnout, and ultimately even job performance. This research model is based on COR theory, which suggests that SM addiction and SM reactions are resource drains that may inhibit the attainment of work–family balance and contribute to job burnout, both of which may lead to lessened job performance.”(Zivnuska)

There are also a variety of dangers with the excessive use of social media. Many people are using social media for unnecessary reasons, which can be unhealthy. People are using technology more than is necessary in the modern day. This constant use of technology can be deemed unhealthy. “Social networks have rapidly entered our daily life and have become its integral elements. On the one hand, they give us almost limitless opportunities for communication, on the other hand, they can cause irreparable harm, have a negative impact on the formation of a full-fledged personality of a person, his socialization and becoming a useful member of society (Yang & Zilberg 2020). It is necessary to observe digital hygiene: do not abuse the time spent on the Internet, carefully monitor the quality of the content being studied, do not succumb to the provocations of trolls and extremists, use all means to protect your account from intruders and scammers.” (Nadeem) Many people are using time on social media for unnecessary reasons which makes their time spent on it useless. There could be more productivity when using up one’s time in such a manner.

One’s emotional status can also play a role in their sleep. An exposure or feeling of negative emotions may cause one to be disturbed while sleeping. This disturbance will cause a person to not get the best quality of sleep. In fact, it is possible that the person may have trouble sleeping or even stay awake for that night. Stress and anxiety are very big factors of insomnia in people. The source of this stress and anxiety can come from social media. This can be from an argument with a friend online or by hearing  the news of a tragic event that just occured. “In young adulthood (i.e., 18-30) negative social media experiences, but not positive ones, are associated with disturbed sleep.”(Perez)

The emotional impact of social media on a person can also deprive one of their sleep. People anticipate the likes and reactions of their media and they value it much more than they value sleep. This anticipation may activate emotions in people depending on the reactions they receive. Having negative emotions might affect the quality of  a person’s sleep. Many people are addicted to social media in today’s world. This is because of how much they care about what people comment and say about them. This obsession may trigger negative emotions. This is not necessarily because of negative comments or interactions with others. Instead, it can be due to not getting the anticipated reaction from others. Perhaps one may expect more likes or more comments, and when they do not reach this status they feel like they are not getting as much of a reaction as they should have. “Because people post on social media to get reactions from others in the form of likes, comments, and shares, users of social media may experience emotional reactions when reading other people’s posts.”(Zivnuska)

Social media can trigger intense emotions in a person which can be negative. This means that it can directly affect sleep as the quality of one’s sleep can be affected by their emotions.

There  are a variety of social media apps that are designed to occupy a person’s time.These apps are classified as social media platforms. The most popular of these apps are Tik Tok, Instagram, and Youtube. These platforms are very engaging and can entice users to keep scrolling for minutes or even hours. This can be the way which these platforms are created. For example, Tik Tok uses an algorithm to feed viewers content that would be the most interesting to them. Each user of the platform  has a feed that is specifically for them. An example of this are people who are interested in baseball. The algorithm can detect that the person likes baseball content and it will start to keep showing them this content in their for you page. 

This can be a problem when users watch content at the time which they should be sleeping. However, there is also an issue of using a device or social media right before bed. In doing so, you can possibly disrupt your sleep pattern. This is due to the blue light that is emitted from devices such as phones and tablets. “These devices produce light on the blue end of the visible spectrum. That’s the range of colors that your eyes can see. Blue light stimulates the brain and can shift sleep patterns. After just 30 minutes of using a tablet or smartphone, we might not feel tired even though it’s nighttime.” (SuperScience) 

The system and design by which apps like Tik Tok are created are made to keep users engaged with the platform. This may lead people to use the app more than they should. Overtime, people can become addicted to these apps even if they do not realize it.”Therefore, we define social media addiction as “the excessive use and habitual monitoring of social media, manifested in compulsive usage that comes at the expense of other activities.”(Zivnuska)

The youth are the most affected by this issue as there is a higher amount of social media users that are teenagers compared to other age groups. The time spent on these apps by kids may lead to a lack of sleep. This is because the excessive amount of time spent by users on these apps may distract them from their other duties. For example, a young person may have homework they need to complete or a test they have to study for. The social media use may cause procrastination in many kids which may also lead to a lack of sleep. “In adolescence, heavy social media use is associated with poor sleep quality and shorter sleep duration.”(Perez)

In conclusion, social media can be used in either a productive way or unnecessary way. Regardless of what it is used for, an excessive amount of time spent on social media platforms can be unhealthy. Many people in today’s world have developed an addiction to social media due to the design of many of its platforms, which are designed to keep people engaged on social media for a long amount of time. This excessive use of social media often leads to  lack of sleep.  This lack of sleep can harm an individual physically, mentally, and emotionally. When people trade likes for sleep, they are depriving their body’s of the rest they need.

Works Cited

Kalogeropoulis, Antonis. ‘Social Media Help Me Distinguish between Truth and Lies’: News …, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13608746.2021.1980941. 18 Oct. 2023.  

Nadeem, A. (n.d.). Understanding the tik tok addiction among young adults. http://greenwichjournals.com/index.php/NH/article/download/671/234  

Perez, E. (n.d.). Trading likes for Sleepless nights: A lifespan investigation of social … https://www.sleephealthjournal.org/article/S2352-7218(21)00059-0/fulltext  

SuperScience (n.d). Night Light (Blue Light and Sleep Patterns). https://go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=cuny_ccny&id=GALE%7CA358849065&v=2.1&it=r 

Worley, S. L. (n.d.). The extraordinary importance of sleep: The detrimental effects of inadequate sleep on health and public safety drive an explosion of sleep research. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30559589/  Zivnuska, S. (n.d.). Social Media Addiction and social media reactions: The implications for … https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224545.2019.1578725