It is with a heavy heart that I write my final reflection for ENGL 301A 99. As this course comes to an end, I reflect on all of the work that I have completed over these past few months. I genuinely enjoyed this class and would recommend it to my fellow students.

Strengths and Weaknesses in the Learning Process

Coming into the course, I was confident about my ability to communicate well both verbally and in writing. I had prior experience composing application packages for jobs and volunteer positions. That being said, I struggled with finding a ‘unique writing voice,’ which is why I made that one of my top priorities. I found some of the more technical aspects of business writing to be the most difficult to relearn, as I had already developed a particular approach to crafting cover letters, reports, etc. With an open mind, I re-evaluated some of my preconceived notions about writing and came to the conclusion that I still had a lot to learn.

By reviewing the Instructor’s Blog and the required readings prior to commencing each assignment, I came to appreciate the importance of writing concisely and with conviction. In order to craft a ‘unique writing voice,’ I focused on using an active voice and eliminating the use of writing clichés. One of the skills that I developed this term was to get rid of unnecessary words and phrases whenever I had to created reports and memorandums. I also began the habit of proofreading my work more than once in order to ensure that I caught any spelling or grammatical mistakes. The formal report assignment was also useful in helping me to understand the different ways in which data can be communicated.

Future Goals

In the new year, my focus is on obtaining a temporary position with the Government of Canada, before applying to a graduate program a year or so later. I can draw on lessons that I have learned in this course in order to make my job application(s) stand out. Hopefully once I land a suitable position that focuses on research or policy analysis, I will be in a better position to tackle proposals and complex reports. In particular, the ‘You Attitude’ writing technique that I encountered this semester has been  especially effective in helping me to become a stronger writer. I will be using this technique in the future as I now have a better idea of how to build a connection with my audience. 

In all honesty, the idea of creating a web folio for personal and professional use was scary in the beginning. Prior to creating this web folio, I had very little experience creating and customizing websites for a particular audience. However, I felt more confident approaching the assignment once I read over the textbook readings for this unit and looked at examples of web folios prepared by other young professionals.

Getting Started

Once I got a better sense of what the assignment was all about, I had to begin by determining who my audience would be. As an undergraduate student who is about to graduate soon, I have plans to enter the workforce for a short period of time before enrolling in a graduate program. With that in mind, I looked into ways that my web folio could be strategically organized to highlight both my academic and professional achievements. In addition, I also wanted to touch on my future goals and showcase marketable skills for potential employers and graduate school programs.

Designing my Web Folio

As someone who wants to pursue a career in the civil service after graduation before moving on to a graduate program that focuses on law or public policy, I wanted the layout of my web folio to reflect these specific goals. In designing my web folio, I was able to revisit several assignments that helped to develop my technical writing skills. Many of these assignments highlight my written communication skills, which are key to success in any civil service job or any graduate degree program. Another area of focus for my web folio is the inclusion of creative elements in the form of pictures. I enjoyed the opportunity to tell my story using my own visuals that add a bit of personality to a web folio that is generally pretty traditional in its presentation.

This assignment was a lot of fun to work on and I feel more confident about marketing my skills to future employers. I took great pride in the work I completed throughout the semester and I am eager to begin sharing it with the rest of the world. The job market is constantly changing and the ability to create websites and promote your skills online is more important than ever before. I look forward to adding to my web folio as the years go by and I would encourage all of my university peers to do the same.

This unit focused on three main areas including: writing with the right attitude, drafting formal reports and reviewing/reflecting on the writing progress moving forward. The last two lessons

Writing with ‘You Attitude’

Learning to write with the ‘You Attitude’ was one of my favourite lessons of the term and is a key takeaway from this class. The memorandum to Evan Crisp and the business letters helped to solidify concepts relating to persuasive and effective writing. These assignments were challenging and forced me to get creative with how I utilized words and phrases to convey a message.

Draft Formal Report

Like with any major research process, the most difficult part is knowing where to start. The research process was relatively straightforward as I had strong starting point and a clear plan of action with regard to collecting data. While I waited for online survey responses to come in, I began the search for journal articles and books that would aid in developing my recommendations for the report. I was disappointed to encounter a lack of formal research into the area of student clubs and how to increase participation rates in mentoring programs. Alas, I turned my focus to the  primary data that I had at my disposal.

Unfortunately, I did not provide a strict deadline for survey participants to submit their responses. This provided a challenge as I had to organize a draft report with little very data to work with. Furthermore, it took a while to gain access to past transition reports that I had hoped to review.

Writing the preliminary draft of the formal report was a complicated process. On the one hand, I had planned out the structure of my report ahead of the assignment deadline and ended up saving a significant amount of time. On the other hand, the delay in receiving responses from the survey participants and from the new ACSA executives limited the amount of material that I could engage with.

Peer Review Process

During the peer review process, I continued to build on the skills that I have been developing throughout the term. I approached the assignment with the same attention to detail as usual and focused on specific areas where the reviewee could improve. The addition of headings and subheadings framed my review nicely and made my comments easier to engage with.

I frequently referred back to my own formal report draft as I was reviewing my peer’s work. I was inspired by the reviewee’s attention to the layout, formatting and colour scheme of their report. The inclusion of these elements made the report more eye-catching and acted as a way for the reviewee to showcase their creative side. Truthfully, it did not cross mind to include different font styles and colours to my original draft, but now I am reconsidering.

My draft report has not been reviewed as I write this reflection. However, I am lucky to have teammates that spend a great deal of time on the peer review assignments. The extra set of eyes are always welcome and often catch some notable errors. It is an invaluable experience to have someone comb through your arguments and provide suggestions for improvement.

Conclusion

This unit had many important lessons and I know that my writing is getting better with each day that goes by. Moving forward with the final report, I predict that the process will take longer than expected because the end of the semester is usually a busy time of year for me. In order to better prepare, I have altered the timeline for my writing schedule in order to account for any potential delays.

301-Eugenia Fasciani-Formal Report Draft (First)

Coming into unit two, I felt more confident about my writing abilities after reviewing the textbook and receiving feedback from the instructor for the previous unit. This part of the course focused on developing a formal report proposal, creating a LinkedIn profile and becoming a better peer reviewer. The formal report proposal is an ongoing assignment and will also be discussed in future reflections.

Formal Report 

I was intrigued by the opportunity to tackle a formal report outside of a traditional work setting. That being said, I struggled to come up with a topic for exploration that was both engaging and insightful. Originally, I had planned to address an issue at my former workplace, only to abandon that notion once I realized that I had to keep that information to myself as outlined in my confidentiality agreement. I finally settled on something that I had knowledge and passion for, and that was addressing mentorship program participation rates within the Arts Co-op Student Association (ACSA).

Since I had previously volunteered with this organization, I felt that I had a good deal of insight to offer. While brainstorming possible solutions to the problem I was tackling, it came to mind that there was more than one way I could approach the current situation. By narrowing my focus to one specific area of research, I was able to to properly outline the reasoning for my investigation. Breaking down the report process helped me understand the potential and limitation of my research. With a clear research schedule, I will be on track to complete the assignment well before the deadline.

Peer Review Process of Formal Report

As someone who is not an expert in sports, I learned quite a bit about the discrepancy in opportunities between women and men in sports. While peer reviewing my partner’s proposal, I was able to contextualize the requirements of the assignment better. Additionally, whenever I came upon a statement that I did not fully understand or where I would question its relatability to the rest of the proposal, this gave me pause. In assisting my peer close the gap in her proposal outline, I was able to better understand the shortcomings of my own work.

Once my partner submitted her peer review of my proposal, I could immediately see the areas where I could have done better. Being able to review my submission days after its completion and through the eyes of my peer was immensely helpful in the process to refine my work. I recognized that I needed to make my statements more concise in certain areas and clarify certain arguments. I was grateful for the review that my partner sent me, as she obviously spent a great deal of time looking over my proposal.

LinkedIn Profile 

The first portion of the LinkedIn assignment required that I researched best practices for creating a profile. As a new user to the networking profile, I appreciated the opportunity to sit down and examine the most effective ways to create an engaging profile. Some of the tips that I discovered were pretty self explanatory and seemed fairly obvious to me (e.g. include a profile picture, etc.) That being said, somethings were far less obvious like joining groups and customizing the URL in order to engage with potential employers more easily.

Through providing feedback to my peers on their LinkedIn profiles, I garnered ideas about how to make my page more appealing. For instance, I included a background picture in order to compliment my profile picture. I also learned to appreciate the value in extracurricular activities and  volunteer roles when marketing my talents to potential employers. Taking into consideration the feedback that I had received, I was able to make small, but strategic edits to my profile that served to make my writing more accessible to a general audience.

Conclusion

The opportunity to make revisions based on peer feedback is one that is often underappreciated, despite the fact that it is vitally important for professional growth. In my opinion, the time and commitment that it takes to self-reflect on one’s work is a very useful transferable skill to have.

Revised Proposal: 301-Eugenia Fasciani-Revised Formal Proposal

Peer Review Report: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a-2020wa/2020/10/21/assignment-2-1-peer-review-of-eugenias-formal-proposal/

Coming into this course, I had the goal of developing a strategy where I could effectively  communicate any piece of information to a specific audience. By completing the assignments as part of unit one, I am confident that I am one step closer to achieving this goal. With regard to future assignments, I hope to fulfil my desire to formulate a unique writing voice and writing style.

Definition Assignment

The definition writing assignment initially threw me for a loop as I had difficulty selecting an appropriate term to define. Within the field of political science, many concepts are interpreted differently across the various schools of political thought making it challenging to acknowledge one particular definition. When I eventually selected a term, I then became concerned about presuming a base level of knowledge and potentially alienating the reader(s) if I had assumed too much.

After carefully consulting reputable sources about sovereignty, and reviewing the different techniques used to expand any definition, I felt more positive about my approach to the assignment. I appreciated using examples and the ‘required conditions’ technique in my writing to help support my definition. This is relevant because as a reader in the process of learning a new concept, I often look for these techniques to help me better understand what the author is trying to convey.

Peer Review Process

Based on the feedback I obtained from Quentin Michalchuk, the techniques I deployed in my expanded definition were relatively well-received. I was grateful that he took the time to review my assignment and was able to provide well thought out feedback that touched on both the strengths and weaknesses of my expanded definition. His confusion surrounding the use of my image prompted me to switch it to something that was more relevant to the concept that I was defining.

On the flip side, as a peer reviewer, I was able to observe the way in which other techniques were used to communicate difficult pieces of information. Acting as a reviewer allowed me the opportunity to see another approach to achieving the same goal. Undoubtedly, this exercise will benefit me as a writer and researcher as I am now more confident in my abilities to draft an expanded definition.

Taking into consideration the feedback that I had received, I was able to make small, but strategic edits to my definition that will serve to make my writing more accessible to a general audience. It can be difficult to receive honest feedback from family and friends, but in an academic setting this is far less likely to occur.

Upon reflection, I chose to substitute the word ‘inalienable’ for ‘absolute’ so that there would be less confusion for my audience. I also took it upon myself to correct some minor grammatical and formatting errors. The opportunity to make revisions based on peer feedback is one that is often underappreciated, despite the fact that it is vitally important for professional and personal growth. In my opinion, the time and commitment that it takes to self-reflect on one’s work is a skill that will transfer well into the workforce.

Revised definition: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a-2020wa/2020/10/07/revised-defintion/

Peer review report: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a-2020wa/2020/10/05/quentin-michalchuk-engl-301-assignment-13-peer-review-of-sovereignty/