"Does Going to College Mean Becoming Someone New?"

 

In Kevin Davis's personal essay " Does Going College Mean Becoming Someone New?', the author talks about if going to college changes you. In the essay, Davis uses his personal experience when he was in school and used cited research to support his evidence. For this essay, the intended audience is students that are coming out of high school and college students that are still trying to determine their major.

 After reading Davis's essay, I agree with the thesis that the author chooses. The author's message is that going to college does mean becoming someone new and that you have to adjust to new environments and do certain requirements that your major asks you to do. In college, we have to be prepared for any task given to us if we want to stay in the major we choose, and even though we are not used to doing those certain requirements, we are in a new community that expects us to do those task. For me, I have to completely change myself when I enter college, and now I see myself as a different person after I chose my major. In the essay, Davis use cited sources to provide evidence to support his topic. Because of the points he made, I  as a reader have been convinced and appreciate all the evidence he provided. 

Throughout the essay, Davis clearly argued that the major he chose was unfitting for him even though he wanted to be an English major. In the passage, Davis stated, "When I became an English major, I didn't just learn a certain understanding of what I read; I also had to learn a particular way of reading and writing.". Because that Davis had to become someone entirely new, so he can adjust to their academic world. Later Davis transitioned from an English major to a business major because he did not like the someone new that he was asked to become. The author used his personal experience as evidence to support his claim, he used pathos to appeal to his audience, showing the struggles he had to deal with in college. The author also used cited sources to make his argument stronger so he can convince his audience to agree with him. For example, in Davis's research, he found Charlotte (1957)  who was a cosmetologist and a practical nurse. She was willing to change herself to fit in the social work community. In the passage, she stated, "If you don't understand yourself, you can't help anyone else. Not in the way that will help people take control of a situation." this statement helps support the author's claim of becoming someone new to fit in a community that you are interested in. The author provides great support to help the audience understand adopting a new community and adjusting to their academic world does mean becoming someone new.

Davis, Kevin. "Does Going to College Mean Becoming Someone New?" Connections: Guide to First YEar Writing @Clayton State University. Ed Mary Lamb. 9th Edition. South Lake :2019