Although I often avoid taking summer courses, enrolling in ENGL 301 this summer was highly beneficial, to say the least. There are a number of English classes at UBC that have enhanced my writing, reading, and analytical competencies, but I believe that this technical writing course has greatly impacted my approach to writing.
My learning went far beyond the basics of composing business documents: for example, being introduced to the You-Attitude writing technique taught me the importance of always keeping the reader in mind and since learning it, I have become more conscious of how I communicate and deliver information. I particularly found the peer reviews to be helpful because we were encouraged to give constructive feedback using a friendly and respectful tone. The peer reviews were always an insightful exercise that highlighted the avoidance of the negative and imperatives, and I looked forward to them as I enjoy reading other people’s work.
Each assignment in this class has contributed to improving my technical writing skills in one way or another—specifically the formal report which I found to be the greatest writing challenge this semester. There were many aspects to consider in addition to the writing portion such as the data, research, and presentation of visuals. Thus, like other courses I have taken in the past, ENGL 301 assignments helped expose my weaknesses and made me aware of my strengths:
Strengths
Being an English Literature major has allowed me to build a versatile skill set developed by having worked with a variety of literature. I have gained the ability to engage with a text and provide an orderly response, and this course served to demonstrate the strengths that currently exist in my writing and communication. More specifically, I found that I was able to exert my organizational skills well in my writing. It is highly important to have a clear, coherent, and structured document to make it easier for readers to understand, and thus, writing professional emails, memorandums, and letters was a task that I found fairly simple to follow. Moreover, this course allowed me to improve and become well-versed in the re-writes and self-edits that come with re-evaluating one’s work, no matter how small the task was.
Weaknesses
Receiving feedback from both my peers and the professor made it easier to identify my weaknesses: they highlighted writing habits and mistakes that I would have otherwise overlooked in my assignments. Despite the efforts to comply with the You-Attitude writing technique, I still used the negative much too often in my writing—specifically in the surveys designed for my formal report. I found myself to be extra careful in the assignments following. However, I acknowledge that it takes time for a new habit to stick and am confident that with extra practice, it will become an intrinsic approach to my technical writing.
My main weakness was that I focused too much on the finer details of some assignments; consequently, this occasionally affected my ability to stay on schedule which was a critical skill to have in this course. This was highly noticeable when I struggled to follow the timeline I made for my formal report, causing me to rush some sections and possibly led to overlooking mistakes that could have been avoided. While this is a weakness, I do think seeking perfectionism can also be considered a strength as it shows that I strive to create top-quality assignments.
Skills & Future
As a technical writing course, ENGL 301 allowed us to exercise the practical skills needed to write formal documents for professional settings. I am still and will continue to improve on incorporating the concept of the You-Attitude in future emails, cover letters, and business documents. Additionally, writing the application package and completing a web folio were two assignments that were increasingly helpful in starting to search for job opportunities. They taught me the importance of establishing a foundation for your personal branding and having a professional online presence that showcases your expertise and credibility.
Time management and working in a group environment were two other skills that were a learning process. Firstly, this course motivated me to be more productive, efficient, and meet deadlines all while in a self-learning environment. Time management is a skill I will apply in the workplace and in future learning experiences as I learned how to stick to a schedule in order to avoid falling behind. Moreover, it was a useful experience to work with other students registered in the class as we were able to receive outside input on our work while simultaneously providing feedback to others.
Conclusively, this technical writing course provided me with the practicality of improving written communication techniques; and though I am not positive about the direction I am headed after graduation, I believe that my newly learned skills will prove useful and can only advance my career opportunities. ENGL 301 is just the beginning and I plan on continuing to practice the art of technical writing and master the skills required to write and communicate effectively.