To my audience,

Let me begin my letter by introducing myself. My name is Madeline Ramsey and I am from Boulder Colorado. I enjoy Horseback riding and snowboarding. I have played softball, basketball, and have run track and cross country. I have two siblings, one sister and one brother. My sister Stephanie is five years older than me and at the moment she is attending Colorado University at Boulder and majoring in economics. My brother Scott lives in San Mateo California with his wife and child.

In high school I was a student in the International Baccalaureate Program, or I.B. for short. In the IB English I took we spent time reading international books and writing timed papers. This class was perhaps one of my favorite high school courses. It was set up to be a Socratic course so daily discussions about the readings occurred. Although writing was a strong focus within the course, there was very little one-on-one discussion with how to better one’s personal writing. Grades given on writing assignments were never explained. After a semester of extreme anxiety and multiple bouts of illness I made the decision to end my time in the program and instead participate in the school’s AP programs.

My A.P. Literature class was one of the worst English courses that I’ve ever been enrolled in. I was only ever given one writing assignment which was assigned as a group project. The class consisted of reading books and then watching the movie based upon the book. The class also involved vocabulary tests every six weeks on words that were presented by other students to the class. This class was a severe disappointment to me. As far as writing goes, I enjoy to write more creatively so I have limited constraints. I have written lab reports and research papers before but they were never that interesting to me. I would have to say research papers are my least favorite paper to write. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. I prefer to read fiction and occasionally fantasy books.

Madeline Ramsey