I was skeptical of the material presented initially, when I joined English 301. I find it difficult to assess a course where blogs are the main form of providing material and assignments. However, it seems that my fears were unfounded. Throughout the term, I have been proven time, and time again that the UBC blog system is a much more personalized and intuitive system for providing information and handing in projects and assignments. I particularly enjoy the ability for students to edit their previous works.
One of the most enjoyable experiences is the peer review process as I always felt that I was good at it. However, I realized that I can be overly critical sometimes, which made it difficult to formalize a critique that did not come across as picky or rude. Often, I would need to consult friends or family in order to make sure my responses were in line, but I greatly appreciated the opportunity to further develop this skill. Additionally, the section of writing with a YOU-Attitude further improved my writing, and drastically aided in procuring the responses that I needed during the Formal Report section of the course.
Further, I found the peer review process beneficial to my skills as a writer in general, and I know that my skills have substantially improved in this course and will do so as long as I continue my efforts. Avoiding imperatives was a big wake-up call for me; it made me realize how authoritative my writing often sounded. However, I think one of the greatest improvements in my writing is conciseness. I had a tendency to use far more words than necessary to get a point across which could have been stated in a sentence of a few words. The previous sentence is an example of this issue. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to learn of my issues in wordiness and improve upon it. Additionally, peer reviewing my teammates’ work also opened my eyes to similar issues in my own writing.
I greatly appreciate the practical applications of this course. The professional skills in writing will aid me in gaining and keeping employment in the future. I beleive that communication is essential for a professional career, and a good way to ruin a career is through consistent miscommunication! For gaining employment, this course focused on letters of reference, professional social media, resumes, cover letters, and interactive online resumes hosted on web pages called web folios. In the writing assignments, we cemented the importance of writing professionally using the technical skills explored throughout the course.
I greatly enjoyed my time at English 301, and I will miss my professional writing team, The Scribblers. We worked well together and learned and improved our writing styles as a team to produce meaningful work. And thank you, Dr Paterson, for a great term. I hope you all have a great summer and stay safe indoors!