Well, here we are. The final assessment. This is where I will talk about the writing process, complete with my strengths and weaknesses. Originally needing this course as a requirement for my degree, this has proved different from other English courses I have taken in the past, providing useful and real world applications to writing that will be used in the real world.

Over the course of this term, we dove into many writing techniques and scenarios I never experienced before. I improved my ability to write in professional situations, and began employing the YOU-attitude, which will be an invaluable tool for future writing exchanges outside this course. Shifting from use of pronouns and imperative verbs to “-ing” verbs proved difficult, but there has been refinement in the style of my writing throughout this course. Writing the reflection blogs were the most enjoyable assignments for me, as I prefer the casual tone acceptable in a blog style post.

On the other hand, this course has highlighted areas of weakness. Towards the end of the term, these assignments challenged my time management skills, often resulting in stressful finishes of assignments that I struggled to push through and feel confident with. Academic writing has never been my strong suit, but having a peer review process proved helpful. Being put in the role of reviewer increased my awareness of writing styles, tones, and abilities which could take into consideration for my assignments. I still have to be actively aware for my excessive use of pronouns, but this course has been great for bringing attention towards this fault. Another trait of mine brought to the surface has been use of redundant words. I have a tendency to try and sound more sophisticated than I need to be, leading to unnecessary or overly-complicated word choices and sentences. I believe this awareness is the first step to beginning to adjust and change those habits.

I believe the progress I made throughout the term will become helpful once I am required to write professionally, and my ability to adjust to comments and critiques are important in any situation. I learned how to explain terms that may need more detail depending on the audience, how to provide reviews of others work in a positive and respectful tone, and the importance of re-writing and improving my work. This course will without a doubt prove helpful for my future.

Designing a Web Folio was the final big project for this term. This was the last big assignment to be completed before the holidays. As I inched closer to the finish line, I kept thinking this would be a simple process. However, once this process began, I was in for some work. First of all, choosing a well-suited template felt like an entire project in itself. I must have changed the site identity and layout about thirty times. Nothing felt just right, which delayed the start of the actual editing process until passed approval. I would like to congratulate those who design web pages for a living, because my extreme indecisiveness would not be helpful when deciding how a page will look. After some time, I finally picked one and off I went with the rest of the assignment.

Soon I was looking back at the work completed at the beginning of the term. Luckily, I took time earlier in the month to edit and rewrite my three definitions and the peer review of that assignment. I checked that off the list fairly quickly. Other assignments took a bit more time, but it was fun to look back and have the chance to improve the writing that would be included on my best works page. This portion appeared to have a lot more work cut out for it because of the requirement to include summaries or introductions for each assignment.

I chose to keep the past assignments and posts on the site because I want to be able to look back on everything in the future. Writing out the home page and navigation bar was fairly simple. Including a photo of myself with my teammates speaking to young athletes felt like a good impression for any reader who visits the site. During the process of completing the site, jumping around each page split up the load of work so the work never felt like too much of going over one thing. At the end, there was only a bit of work to do for each section before checking off the completion box.

Re-writing the about me page was interesting. The bio written in September was very different from the updated version. Having just began my computer science program when the original one was posted, I experienced a shift and figured out throughout the term that I needed more time to figure out what my  future looks like. The previous bio felt like it was written by a completely different person, and looking back was intriguing to see what changed.

As a whole, re-creating the blog site was a rewarding experience. Although stressful and frustrating in moments, the hardest part was getting started. The hardest part was sitting down to begin the process. Once the ball was rolling, re-reading and re-writing was enjoyable. Seeing the comparison between my original work and updated work, and original peer reviews to the re-worked reviews provided confirmation of growth in myself as a writer. Thanks to this class, I would consider creating another blog to continue some form of writing. I do not see myself continuing this site, but having it as a reference for everything done in this class will be a good memory resource.

As another unit ends and we get closer to the end of the term, I find it hard to believe how quickly time has gone by. Apparently, last week is NOT when I was writing out my letter of application to my now team members for this course.

For the Evan Crisp assignment, this was a good challenge to write him suggestions for editing without using imperative verbs. Writing with YOU-attitude was difficult to adjust to but helpful and effective. This concept has made me more aware even when texting friends and being mindful about how I say things to them. Additionally, writing the letter of bad news to U-Haul on my experience was almost a therapeutic exercise which put that memory to rest. I also must make a note to stop saying ‘it’ so frequently!

Writing out the formal report draft has been a process for me. My interview with the director of Athletics occurred much later as he was so busy and had to push back the conversation a couple times. I let that stress of not having an important part of my draft consume me and made me less motivated to get other information. Quite frankly, you would think the opposite would happen- where I would do as much as I can on my other sections while I am waiting for that final piece- but it did not. So unfortunately, my draft that I put together was not as completed as I had hoped. On a lighter note, I was very impressed by the amount of people who filled out my survey. Which is extremely exciting. However, based on the questions I asked in my survey and the conversation I had with Kavie (Athletics Director), I have been struggling to put the subject and ideas together into a flowing, coherent report. The assignment feels all over the place, but I am confident everything will come together in the end. Overall, this has been a fun experience and I am looking forward to sharing the final results of the report (and not having this stress anymore).

Critiquing Eugenia’s formal report draft was difficult. I think I struggled with this peer review the most. I believe she is a strong writer, and I doubted my abilities to provide helpful information for her report. I tried to focus on the grammatical errors and ask questions which would allow her to think about the findings of her report.

Other than that, I am looking forward to finishing my final projects and getting to see what the other students in this course will share. Though, writing these reflections have been my favourite part.

This unit was a difficult one for me. Personally, I have been experiencing a number of things throughout these weeks that have made it difficult for me to focus on my classes. With that being said, I enjoyed getting a chance to write about something that I care a lot about. With the formal report I have been struggling to create my topic of interest into one less research based and more along the lines of a formal report. I have been questioning myself multiple times on whether I have a feasible topic, or whether I need to change it up. The back and forth has made it difficult for me to stay motivated with this assignment. I am hoping Kavie will have some time to sit down and chat with me for a bit as I know the Athletics is a little crazy right now with figuring out how to juggle the COVID situation.

My LinkedIn profile was sitting around untouched for a number of months before September. I just never got around to creating something out of it so I feel fortunate that I had to for this class. I am looking forward to working on it even once this course has ended. I feel lost at times because I have always done networking through other social media accounts on a much more casual basis and strictly for sport, and the professional world is different for me. None the less, I feel it is important to step out of my comfort zone and build a profile on LinkedIn to connect with others.

I have appreciated the peer review process and it forces me to look back on my writing and work to improve what I am trying to say rather than just write something out and never reflect back on what I have done or how much it makes sense. I have learned that I like to look at others writing to take notes and apply it to my own. I find I do not go into specifics as much as I would like. I am also trying to be more aware to NOT put a two letter word at the end of a sentence. Being cognizant of my own writing in a way has made it more enjoyable for me, because honestly I have never been a big fan of writing. Initially I was stressed about having an assignment due every few days but now I feel as though a rhythm has been created and as a result makes the task of writing seem less daunting.

301 Claire Eccles Formal Report Proposal Revised

Eugenia Fasciani Peer Review