Swanson, Justin  

Justin Swanson. One freaking chill guy. He's like 25, I think. He's got a beard, smallish skinny dude with an almost artistic/musical quality. I could definitely tell he was an "English" kind of guy. I, on the other hand, am not. I did not enjoy English in high school - it made me very unhappy. But just being in justins class was a good experience. I made a couple friends, and I skimmed through all the readings right before class (no shame, they were pretty short and simple if you know how to read decently well). SUPER chill guy overall, I definitely recommend him.

Justin was a funny guy but as confusing as they get. He never fully explained any assignments and would purposely assign things in a confusing way. Even when students persistently asked for clarification and help, he would confuse them further. On top of this, it takes him FOREVER to grade and is an extremely hard grader. He also expects way too much out of the students, he assigns quite a lot of reading on top of an essay. Overall, if you take this class you will be frustrated with him the entire time.

Do not take this class. Swanson is extremely confusing and never really tells the class what he expects or wants. He takes forever to grade. He expects a lot from a freshman english class. Even though I went to office hours to go over and revise essays, he gave me the same grade on my revised essay as I had on my first draft (I changed exactly what he wanted in his exact words as well). And on the last day of class, he even said the class was complete bullshit. He may seem cool but you will regret taking him.

In my opinion, Justin was an awesome professor. I'm really glad I got him for this class. Yes, his discussions did get pretty deep and were kind of confusing at times, but as long as you participated and put in some effort he gave you the points. I think the biggest reflection of our grades were our writing assignments (since we had no tests), so if you didn't do well on those your grade suffered. And I have to admit his essay prompts were a bit confusing. Just go into his office hours and he will help you. He was definitely always willing to help. However, the biggest thing for me was to not read so much into the prompts. They may seem complicated and confusing, but they really weren't. Read the texts he assigns and ask for help, it really clarified my confusion.

Justin was a great teacher. There were only 4 main writing assignments that were pretty easy if you give a reasonable amount of effort. We often had good, deep conversations in class which I always enjoyed. He appreciates participation and is really easy to talk to outside of class and is very helpful in office hours. There are some readings that I would skim in the 10 minutes before class and ended up being fine. Super chill guy!

My favorite professor this quarter by far. Had this class late at night but Justin or JSwan made this class very fun. Always found some cool way to engage the class and make you think. Really great discussions that sometimes became too fun. Would highly recommend this professor to anyone.

Justin is a really interesting guy. He's super chill and easy to get along with, but I don't really know if I learned a single thing about writing in his class. He jumps from topic to topic without really transitioning. It's sometimes really hard to understand what he's saying because even though he knows what he wants to say, he has trouble communicating his abstract ideas so the class can understand. At least this quarter, the grade was 90% based on 5 papers, most of which aren't too hard to get a pretty good grade on. Follow as much advice as you can from him, have him check your essays at his office hours, and you should be fine. But just know he can be confusing a lot of times.

After taking Justin, I have mixed reviews for him. First, he is a chill guy, but his teaching could use some improvement. He has 4 essay assignments and participation make up all of your grade. With his grading system you can only lose 4 points on essays to get an 'A' in the class. The way he grades papers is out of 11 points, and only losing 4 points all together is relatively difficult. However, if you go to office hours, he will help you. I am grateful for his office hours, but it can be hard to find time especially with other classes. If you are up for a challenge, take Justin. However, if you want an easy 'A', he is not the teacher for you. His lectures were pretty interesting, even if half the class is lost. Do not be afraid to approach him, as he is truly kind and a pretty cool guy. I may just be salty about my B. Overall, he is a good guy, good teacher, but do not go in thinking it will be an easy class, and put work into your essays (it will make the class more interesting).

His class is very frustrating, and he's a tough grader. He knows his subject very well, but he just can't teach. Do yourself a favor and take someone else.

J Swan was a fantastic professor. He turned each lecture into some weird, but interesting, philosophy discussion. If you actually tried to follow what he was saying and participated, you can learn a lot from each lecture. Each lecture is a hint to what he wants to see in your essays. However, you could still get by without paying any attention. Go to office hours and when you write stories, describe what is happening in the scene rather than stating. Overall, this class always made me laugh and I looked forward to being with the other students and J Swan.

I've always been a great writer and put extensive work and time into my essays and he gave me a B in the class, not even a B+. He arbitrarily slaps a grade on your papers which I didn't think is fair, he really needs a grading system. He wants us to get way too deep and detailed for an intro writing class. The lectures had absolutely no purpose, relevance, or direction, and always filled up the whole two hours. I would definitely take someone else.

AWFUL DONT DO THIS PICK SOMEONE ELSE SERIOUSLY AWFUL YOU'LL WANT TO PULL YOUR EYES OUT OF YOUR HEAD IN AGONY.

I originally signed up for this class because JSwan was said to be a chill dude and you're only assigned 4 essays as work for this class. Although that's the case, I don't recommend taking this class. I came in thinking I was a decent writer and could only improve by taking a college writing course like this. Boy was I wrong because I don't think I learned anything new in that class. His lectures are full of philosophy and tangents that have nothing to with writing. If anything, I feel that my writing has gotten worse from all the confusion that resulted from taking the class. He expects a little too much from his students and does a poor job of communicating his scatterbrained thoughts/expectations which ultimately confuses most of the class. I'm glad I passed and got that class over with. If you like philosophy and are already a really good writer than you should be able to get by but be warned. Also the man reminds me of shaggy from scooby doo.

He's a weird guy. Super into English as an "art" form. Only have a couple essays but they are the majority of your grade. If you aren't super into talking about the "beauty of language" and that shit, don't take his class. But you don't have to read a lot

Jswan was my favorite professor this quarter. Super chill guy, he almost seemed like a student on the first day of class. He doesn't grade with a rubric which some people really don't like but honestly I didn't mind. He really cares about writing and finding the deeper meaning in everything which was actually pretty cool. The workload in this class is pretty light but once you get assigned an essay you generally don't have a lot of time before it's due. I recommend this class though, I think it really helped my writing and I'm glad Justin was my professor.

JSwan is the epitome of a young professor. He's a philosophical deep thinking kind of guy, and he's a really cool dude. Class can get a little over the top sometimes with abstract concepts but Justin does a great job of trying to bring everything back to reality. Don't let the polyratings on him get you down. You have three essays to write, a memoir, a profile, and a research paper. He will grade all of them fairly and never has gimme's. Don't think the class will be easy, but you will be a better writer because of it. Those three papers are a large part of your grade, but the fourth "sequence" is a revision of your paper with the lowest grade and a chance to hugely improve your grade. Justin was one of the coolest people I have met, and talks to you like a buddy, not like a student, if you get him, get to know him and I guarantee you'll enjoy his class

Justin is an awesome professor! I had this class from 8-10pm and let me just say, the idea of such a late class is a huge turn off. But, he really wants his students to become deeper thinkers and have them explore parts of their understanding that they didn't even know was there. He wants to help students succeed and be the best. He grades your essays on how the reader reacts to your piece so keep that in mind when writing them. Be prepared to ask yourself a lot of questions and get ready to be part of a philosophy class intertwined with your ENG 134. This class was so unique and it was definitely one of my favorites!

His lectures take a little while to get used to, but they are intersting. He is a harsh grader, but provides comments to justify the grade. If you want to improve as a writer I would suggest taking Professor Swanson.

JSWAN is awesome! He can seem quite abstract at times during lecture, but if you ask him specific questions about assignments and essays, you will get clear answers. His class is overall super fun and I made a lot of great friends due to the chill environment. He may seem like a hard grader, but if you go to his office hours and pay very close attention to take notes during lectures you will have no problem succeeding in this class.

Swan is the dopest teacher at CalPoly. Some of his lectures are a little out there and you definitely have to think for yourself, but overall it is a really fun class. Write your essays according to what he wants and you will get a good grade. I didn't get Fresh Voices the textbook for this class because I borrowed a friend's book whenever we needed to read something from it (which wasn't that often).

J Swanny is a really awesome and philosophical guy. He is tons of fun to just talk to, but he can grade a little on the more difficult side. I really did enjoy his class and recommend him if you want to improve your writing.

I loved Justin!! We spent a lot of class discussing things and some times it was confusing but just do all the readings and you'll be fine. The main thing I appreciated about Justin was the fact that he was genuinely interested in the students analyses and didn't just treat our ideas like they were lesser because we were young. He was very encouraging and wanted everyone to have amazing realizations in the class. I feel like I became a better writer in the class because he framed writing in a totally different way than most of my english teachers did in high school.

Justin Swanson is a chill dude but man oh man he's a godawful professor. He has absolutely no idea about anything and likes to start useless class discussions about random ass things and usually ends the class with "Wow... who's confused right now? I am..." He's honestly high all the time (not literally) and when he gives assignments he gives hella vague instructions and then will kill you when he grades it. DO NOT TAKE HIM YOU WILL REGRET IT.

Jswanny my mannn. He's an incredibly chill teacher. I personally loved his class because we had a lot of abstract discussions. Other reviews say he was confusing, which at times he was, but he does this on purpose to force you to think outside of the box. His comments cause you to question everything you thought you knew about language and writing. I think he's a great teacher for creative minds, but would not be the best fit for those better at logistics. His class is suuuper easy because you barely have any reading. With that being said, you need to devote that time and energy to your essays. He's a highkey hippie too. I never felt overwhelmed in his class (which I have a tendency for). His class is pretty good for mental health because he's so accepting of everyone, and encourages people to become more aware of the subconscious thoughts.

Justin Swanson is seriously the man. Although he was just my teacher for the first quarter of freshman year, he was the best english teacher I've ever had and probably will ever have. He is kind of spacey, and random, but he reminds me of my 30 year old hipster brother. He's super reasonable, comprehensive, and genuinely interesting. Attendance is required, but I always wanted to go to class. The readings are pretty much nightly, but they are always short and easy. There were 4 papers total, and the rest of the grade was on participation in class, which he makes pretty easy with interesting readings and basically forcing everyone to talk in every discussion. I really enjoyed this class. I know he's not reading this but thank you Justin!!

Swanson is a chill guy but only talked about relevant material 2 or 3 times throughout the entire quarter. Most of the quarter was spent talking about some intellectual bs that had to connection to writing. If you are a bad writer, you won't be any better at the end of the course. If you are a good writer, it is easy to get better grades by just learning what he likes.

"Hello and welcome to another installment of English 134"; that is how every class starts. JSwan is honestly just a super sweet awsom

Justin Swanson, what a guy. He is probably the deepest and most chillest professor Cal Poly has to offer. As far as being an English professor who will teach you how to write essay's, he might not be the guy. But no one is taking this class because they want to improve their writing skills. Justin walked into class as if he was high as a kite, the deep conversations about the universe or random tangents he would go off were very interesting to observe to say the least. You can tell that this was the kind of guy who has done shrooms at some point in his life. Cool guy who I would be down to smoke a bowl with.

Swanson is a great teacher. He helped me progress in writing way more than I was expecting and was by far the best teacher I've had so far.

My favorite teacher that I've had at Cal Poly so far. He is very funny guy and although he might come off as shy and kind of introverted, he is far from it. As someone who went to his office hours quite a bit, he is very willing to help you with your paper and just talk about whatever you want to talk about. Overall, a great guy and I'm glad I took a risk with taking him after reading some of his poly ratings.

Probably my favorite class of that quarter. Literally everything about this guy gives off the impression that he thinks "Howl" is the best piece of literature to come out of the 20th century. Class was always fun. He has received a lot of feedback that he's not very clear and so he tries to work on it by always asking for questions. The problem isn't that the prompts aren't clear, it's that his grading is entirely holistic, no rubric whatsoever, so you have no idea what grade you'll get. Basically the grade for this class is based on whether you were a good writer to begin with or not. If you are, I couldn't recommend this class more. If not, I'd still weigh your options, cause JSwan is a blast.

Is he a nice guy? For sure! Is he a good professor? That would be a hard NO. I had no idea what the hell he was trying to tell us in his lectures, and he always went off on irrelevant tangents. He's really confusing and provides little actual direction for his students. If you take him, make sure to go to his office hours because it'll make him like you more. His grading made no sense... Two of my four grades for this class were a C- and a B and somehow I still got an A- in the class???? I learned nothing from this class; it was honestly just a waste of time. Truly just a baffling and frustrating experience overall. Try to avoid taking his class!!! Nice guy though...

Swanson is chill but he provides zero direction to his students regarding any form of writing. His class is mainly focused on pointless readings and then discussions that usually go nowhere. The only reason i went to class was because attendance is graded. He is extremely biased when it comes to final grading. I scored higher on papers than a classmate who he liked and still ended up with a lower grade. I wouldn't take him again. He goes on tangents anytime the discussion actually becomes productive. I got a decent grade in his class but I disliked it a lot

Very chill guy but learned nothing from the class. He uses very big vocabulary to the point where you have no idea what he's saying. Participate in class because the grades you get on the papers really don't matter in the end. He also never posts on polylearn so you only get your final grade and you never know the grades you got on the last two essays.

Very chill professor, overall we have 3 papers due throughout the quarter (most of which are 3-6 pages) and a couple reading assignments. Attendance is mandatory which is a killer but other than that he's a really cool guy to be around. His class has a bit of a boy's club vibe, he connects really well with college guys but nothing that hindered my education at all.