I Have Difficulties in Writing, How Can I Improve?

Honestly speaking, I hated writing ever since I was in high school. Do you remember in English class when teachers ask students to make a composition? I really despised that. Writing essays for me was a big problem. I really could not think of ideas for my essay, but when I had some ideas in my mind, I would be facing another challenge, which is choosing one that would be discussed in my essay. Hence, I was never proud of my compositions in high school. Luckily in college, it was more on writing reports, so it was easier for me to accomplish. The problem happened again when I was required to take an English proficiency examination – the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination. 

The reason I had to take the IELTS was my parents' encouragement for me to pursue a two-year course in Australia. One of the requirements for the school I was going to attend was an IELTS score. I was not familiar with the test so I checked online and right at that moment, I felt I was going to have a problem with the writing test. For me to be accepted in the college, I needed to take the Academic module. My parents bought me some reviewers. Yes, they were of big help but I just could not seem to understand the graphs and data for the writing task. I was so desperate that I looked for an IELTS review center for help. 

I found one on the internet and luckily they have a center in my city. During the writing class, I forced myself to write essays for the two tasks. My essay was returned the next day and it was filled with red ink for comments. The lecturer noted my weaknesses. I was having a hard time choosing the right words to describe the graph, organizing the ideas and keeping a smooth flow in my essay. The lecturer had one-one-one discussion on our essays and I was enlightened. They taught me how to make outlines, words and expressions to clearly describe graphs and most importantly, fixed my grammar errors. It was a long process for me to achieve a good score on mock tests until my mentors told me that I was already hitting my target for the IELTS.

Three months after, I took the test, I was nervous. All my hard work paid off when I got a band score of 8 on my writing test. The words "thank you" was not enough on how I appreciate my mentors' help. 

I have been here in Australia for almost a year now. School has been great. Indeed, IELTS review centers lead students to a good score in the IELTS. So for those who are going to take the IELTS, do not hesitate to accept that you need help and be surprised how effective IELTS review centers are.