Friday Favorites – Maya
Being a first year student at DePaul, I haven’t had a lot of experience with upper level classes. Instead of taking courses related to my major, I have mainly focused on getting my General Education courses completed. As such, my favorite class at DePaul thus far has been Composition and Rhetoric 1, otherwise known as WRD 103. This class is an introductory level English course that is required of all majors, regardless of particular college.
I am a strong believer that a student’s success in a class heavily relates to the professor. With that being said, my experience with Delia Pless as a professor was phenomenal. She was everything a student could ever want as a professor in an English class. Delia was so understanding that writing essays were challenging for some, and always helped her students write to the best of their abilities.
The bulk of this class focused on essay writing and its drafting process. For every essay, we were required to make three separate drafts. Though the process seemed tedious at first, I believe it greatly benefited the overall quality of my essays. Before my time in this class, I had a preconceived notion set in my mind that every draft I was required to turn in had to be flawless. I believed it had to be a draft that required so little change that using the word “first” or “second” before the word draft was practically pointless. However, because Delia taught us the importance of drafting an essay, I am now able to have a different view of the drafting process. Now, the entire process is very satisfying as I am able to mark my progress on each essay. In the end, I am always 100% proud of my final essay, and no longer wish some parts were changed. 
Apart from the drafting process, I really liked the way in which Delia graded our assignments. She hosted one-on-one meetings with each student after every essay was due. When she first told our class that each essay would be graded in the form of a conference, my introverted self was petrified. The thought of another person, let alone one of my professors grading my essay in person seemed daunting. However, I have come to learn that it is actually my preferred method of being graded. The entire process was extremely beneficial because it allowed me to have a clear understanding of her grading process, which I really appreciated.
Last, I highly recommend every incoming freshman take Delia Pless as a WRD 103 professor. You won’t be disappointed!