Now that the term has come to a close, it is reflective to look back at the assignments of ENGL 301 and discuss how this course has changed my approach to professional writing. At the beginning of the term, I naively expressed my wishes to write in a concise manner and to become confident in my communication skills. However, through self-editing and peer reviews, I learned so much more about my writing style that revealed a great deal about myself. Most importantly, I discovered that what I thought were my writing weaknesses really stemmed from other sources, and I could learn techniques to help improve these weaknesses. Additionally, ENGL 301 gave me the chance to analyze my skills and see how these strengths could support my future goals.
Critique and Giving Feedback
Initially, the concept of having to conduct multiple peer reviews seemed like an arduous task. I constantly worried about how my tone would be perceived, or if perhaps they would take offence to my critiques. In this headspace my earlier peer reviews were extremely wordy, and had a rambling feeling to them. This approach to peer reviews was difficult, and it meant there were long sentences and explanations to point out a simple grammar mistake in the nicest way possible. Additionally, even when I was confident in what I was saying, this created a passive voice to my peer reviews.
However, once we did the assignment on writing with a “You” attitude, my peer review processes became much easier. Once I could write in this tone, it became significantly easier to organize my thoughts into a useful format, and to say my points without fear of others taking offence. This “You” attitude switches the perspective from “This is what I have to say” to “This would be beneficial to you.” It was this switch in head space that I found the most helpful in solving wordiness. Additionally, I became a more efficient writer by being able to speak confidently and directly about my points. While my wordiness may crop up in other aspects, this ability to write with a “You” attitude is a valuable tool.
Professionalism
As a science student, I don’t often get the chance to write to my professors (having classes of hundreds of students) and oftentimes get intimidated by writing emails to my superiors. Therefore, it often took hours to type, review, and send an email to one of my professors. My main hope in taking ENGL 301 was that I would be able to do this more efficiently instead of spending hours rereading my email draft. In this course, a professional tone was key in writing all reports and peer reviews, and I found that as time went on, I began to write much faster. This could be seen most evidently in the multiple memorandums that were written. The first memorandum took at least a couple of hours, in which I created multiple drafts and edited it numerous times to ensure a professional, yet concise, tone. Towards Unit 4 however, memorandums seemed like an extremely easy task. I am happy to say that after this course, emails no longer take me hours, and I am more confident in my abilities to sound professional and concise when messaging instructors.
Identity
The biggest struggle I had in this course was the concept of presenting myself professionally. As noted in the Unit 3 reflection, the LinkedIn profile was a huge struggle, as it seemed to be an exercise in putting my personality into a box to market to others. Particularly due to the nature of my combined degree, my skills and experiences seemed too general to market to one employer. My LinkedIn profile ended up taking quite a long time, as I struggled to define my audience and present myself in a way that highlighted my wide array of interests. However, this exercise forced me to think about what I had to offer employers, and stay rooted in the fact that I generally love science and love to learn. I understood that it wasn’t a bad thing to have an array of experiences, and that is an asset to come from a diverse background. Once I was able to market my passion instead of my interest in one profession, the LinkedIn profile became much easier to write, and much more comprehensible to read.
Future Goals
Overall, ENGL 301 has allowed me to reflect upon my skills, and discover how my strengths could support my future goals. Although I knew it was essential for growth, I was initially dreading having to think about job prospects and marketing to professional environments. However, this course was constructed in a way that analyzed my strengths and helped me gain confidence in the skills I possessed. Specifically, I noticed that being able to write a job application using the tools I learned in ENGL 301 made this process much easier. I felt confident writing a cover letter knowing that it was in a professional tone and knowing that I had skills that could benefit an employer. All in all, the reflection aspect of this course allowed me to gain perspective on my strengths, and gave me tools to use in future professional endeavors.
Conclusion
I am grateful that I have had the chance to grow and learn the past few months in ENGL 301. This course has been beneficial to my future education and career, and has allowed me to gain confidence in both my skills, and my writing abilities.