Author Archives: evan ruiz

Application Package

Myself, along with the students in ENGL 301 99A, have just completed Unit 3! 

Research:
It took some time to determine how I wanted to go about conducting my research. I considered interviews, polls, etc.., before determining that I wanted to conduct anonymous, survey based, questioning. This style of research gave me the foundation to create and develop a plan on how to address the issues that I’ve found within the organization I am reviewing. More specifically, I was able to use my primary research to confirm the problems that I have been witnessing, and develop a plan on how to address them. A majority of the organization’s members completed the survey and, as a result, obtained a deep understanding of the overall physical and mental wellbeing of the organization’s members.

Formal Report Draft:
Developing, organizing, and writing my Formal Report Draft was more seamless than I initially anticipated. I found that due to my prior research in past units, and my in-depth understanding of the organization, I had a solid foundation to build my report. I did, however, run into some challenges. I found that my data analysis was quite wordy when, ideally, I would be able to be more concise in my wording. Moreover, I found difficulty when trying to apply secondary research to my primary research. Nonetheless, I feel as though my Formal Report is on the right track and I am looking forward to continuing my work. 

Peer Review of Formal Report Draft 
This, generally, is one of my favorite “post assignment” tasks to complete. Peer review offers an opportunity to improve your work based on the suggestions of peers. Moreover, peer review offers an opportunity to examine the work of your peers. The latter, for the most part, is what I’ve found most beneficial. By reviewing the work of my peers, I can analyze different approaches that were taken, new perspectives, etc and apply that newfound knowledge to my own work.

I look forward to the new challenges and assignments that the students of ENGL 301 99A will have to complete in Unit 4!

Formal Report Draft – Evan Ruiz

Myself, along with the students in ENGL 301 99A, just completed Unit 2! In unit 2, I worked to improve my online, professional, presence through LinkedIn. Moreover, I developed the outline of my formal report and worked closely with my peers to edit and refine out work.

LinkedIn Profile 

As an individual who is working towards a career in sales and marketing, I recognize the importance of maintaining a strong, online, social presence. With this goal in mind, I created my LinkedIn profile more than two years ago. Through this assignment, however, I received formalized and personalized insight into what sections I could add, what sections I could remove and, ultimately, how I could improve my profile. The tips that I received from my teammate, Mitchell, stood out to me. To be specific, he suggested that I work to increase my endorsed skills and create a “volunteer experience” section. The LinkedIn Profile Assignment has improved my profile, and provided me with new insight on what steps I can take in the future to maintain it. 

Formal Report Proposal 

Initially, I had a lot of difficulty in determining the scope of my report. I began by considering the negative consequences of remote work and the lack of physical activity that might be associated with it. Ultimately, however, I decided to write my report on how intermittent physical activity could improve the overall mental and physical wellbeing of remote-education students. At this point, I’m extremely happy with the outline of my report. I feel as though my topic is specific, yet broad enough to apply a lot of information. Moreover, the organization I am working with will allow me to effectively implement “my proposed solution” to a representative sample of students. While I feel as though my report is on track, and progressing well, I do have some concerns about the length. Understanding that the report can be up to 15 pages, I want to ensure I can fill it with as much relevant and informative information as possible. As I continue to work on my report, I’ll be sure to take specific notes on details, research, and data.

Peer Review

To put it simply, I think that the peer review process has been extremely effective. Receiving constructive feedback from my teammates or more broadly, my peers, has allowed me to correct the errors in my work, and obtain new/ creative ideas on how I can proceed with my assignments. Moreover, giving constructive feedback has allowed me to reflect on my own work, and practice my writing/ editing skills. To be specific, I tend to over complicate some sentences with unnecessary words, so I’ve been working on being more clear and concise with my writing . Ultimately, this process makes me a better writer and has allowed me to more effectively critique and examine my own work.

I look forward to the start of Unit 3!

Revised Research Proposal

Peer Review of Original Proposal

Myself, along with the students in ENGL 301 99A, just completed Unit 1! About one month ago I was new to this class, the organizational and work style, and the resources used within the course. It feels great to have gotten some traction, and to have built momentum within the course. Outside of starting my blog, I had the opportunity to be introduced to other writers within the class! Now a member of the “Fourth Pair of Eyes” I’ve worked to complete many interesting assignments, and have become a better writer in the process. Here’s some of the things that I completed and learned in Unit 1: Assignment 1.3 – Writing Three Definitions

Definitions: 

Taking a passion of mine, psychology, and applying it to this course was a great experience. I worked to define the term “scaffolding”, which refers to the socio-cultural technique used as a reference for “teachers” to help “learners”, by adjusting the level of support that they provide. While based in psychology, I feel as though the breadths of this term apply to a much greater audience. Outside of providing new strategies for adolescents to develop, it provides insight for teenagers and adults alike. Learning is a process that continues throughout one’s life; and far too often we find ourselves in a system that supports a singular style of teaching. As we are all learners, in any given capacity, it is important to know and try different and unique ways to do so. You can find more about this term, and my assignment, here: 

Peer review: 

Following the submission of my definitions assignment, our team suggested that I review Rodrigo’s term, “Theory of Change.” I enjoyed seeing how another writer, and teammate, worked through the assignment; their term, process, and style of writing. Moreover, I enjoyed being able to provide Rodrigo with “suggestions” for how he might improve his already wonderful assignment. I understand that it might be “awkward” at times to provide feedback towards other writers. However, I believe that providing constructive feedback makes me better, as does receiving feedback. Through this review process, it was great to reflect back on how I might have re-structured, or improved my own assignment. 

Editing Process: 

Amina, another member within my writing team, took the time to review my definitions on “scaffolding.” It’s clear that she took the time to make well thought out, clear, and helpful suggestions to my work. Amina pointed out mistakes that I, simply, had not noticed in my assignment. Moreover, she made high-level suggestions on how I could, holistically, improve some of my sections. Outside of making my assignment better, I found this insight extremely beneficial, as I can take these suggestions and apply them into my next work. I have attached my revised assignment, with Amina’s revisions, here: Assignment 1.3 – Writing Three Definitions

I learned a lot about my writing techniques, and style, in Unit 1. Look forward to continuing this process with the start of Unit 2! 

Best, 

Evan Ruiz

Reviewer: Evan Ruiz
Author: Rodrigo Samayoa
Term: Theory of Change

Eng301-Rodrigo-Samayoa-definitions

Hello Rodrigo! I reviewed your draft of Assignment 1.3- Three definitions. Great job! It’s clear that you put a lot of time into this assignment and it’s organization.

Initial Impressions: As someone who has a love for philanthropy, I appreciate your description of the term “theory of change” and it’s relation to social movements. More specifically, I think you did a wonderful job with organization; starting at a high-level, eventually showing how it can be applied.

This assignment is well written, and well thought out. With that being said, I think you only need minor revisions to make this assignment the “best” it can be. Wonderful job! I have listed my suggestions below:

Grammar: beware of run-on sentences, and missed capitalization. While this is, holistically, not a major problem within your assignment, I think it is worth addressing. For example, at the start of the second paragraph, under “Situation” you miss a capital “M” at the start of the new sentence.

You spoke very specifically about a few topics, however I only noticed citations for the visuals that you provided. Be sure to include citations within your text if you reference written content from the sites you drew visuals from, or any other sources.

Organization: You did a wonderful job creating a “flow” to the assignment. There is a natural progression from one subject to the next, and so on. However, I noticed that your “References” page was listed directly under you closing paragraph. Your works cited should be listed on its own page, following your finals thoughts/ comments.

In regards to your visuals, I think that they were placed in the appropriate section. More specifically, in your last section, you did a great job of introducing the visual that you presented. My only suggestion is that you do the same with all visuals.

Original: “Sandy now has a clearer roadmap to achieve her goal” {image/ visual placed}

Alternative: “Sandy now has a clearer roadmap to achieve her goal. This process is laid out in the 4 step diagram below.”

Suggested Changes: I noticed that, in some transitions (one header to another), you introduce a new paragraph by continuing the prior paragraph. Is that done purposefully?
For example, at the start of “Mapping Theory of Change” you state,

Original: “As you can probably tell, this statement does not give Sandy a detailed strategy to achieve change. It shows what road Sandy wants to take on her journey, but not a detailed view of this road.”

Alternative: “As you can probably tell, the statement referenced under ‘What is Theory of Change’, does not give Sandy a detailed strategy…”

Are you referring to the statement from the previous section? I think that it’s important to consider the start of each section, to a certain degree, as it’s own. If you were to begin reading, at the start of a section, it should make sense to the reader.

Final Impressions: I hope that you’ve found these, brief, suggestions to be helpful. Again, I would like to reiterate that you’ve done a wonderful job on this assignment. The content within your assignment is well thought and well organized. Do one more run-through, checking from grammar/ run-on sentences and  introductions to visuals/ transitions between paragraphs. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about the feedback that I provided.

Response to Mitchell Prost

RE: ENGL 301 Professional Writing Team Invitation

To: Mitchell Prost

Hello Mitchell,

Happy Wednesday. I hope this email finds you well.

Invitation to Rodrigo Samayoa

To: Rodrigo Samayoa

Subj: ENGL 301 Professional Writing Team Invitation

Hello Rodrigo,

I’m reaching out to invite you, alongside Mitchell Prost and I, to join our profession writing team.

After reading through your application, the following caught my eye:

• Your professional experience with political advocacy;
• Your interests in the field on web development; and
• Your areas of study in Computer/ Political Science.

To: Dr. Erika Paterson, Instructor, ENGL 301 99A, UBC
From: Evan Ruiz, evanfruiz@gmail.com
Date: September 18, 2020

Subject: Letter of Application

Dear Dr. Paterson,

Happy Friday evening! I hope this email finds you well.

My name is Evan Ruiz and I am a fourth-year student in you ENGL 301 class. I’m reaching out to inform you that, recently, I have written a letter of application and posted it onto my class blog.

Please find a, brief, summary of my CV below:

The position I am applying for: UBC’s 301 Professional Writing Team

Brief background of myself: organized, team Player, strong work ethic

A summary of my professional and academic experience: DocuSign (SDR), NBC Sports (Marketing), Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest, inc. (Campus Ambassador)- Fourth Year IDST student- Behavioral Marketing and Sales.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Looking forward to connecting in the near future!

Best,

Evan Ruiz
evanfruiz@gmail.com
(925) 285-0366

301 Evan Ruiz A Letter of Application

The University of British Columbia, 
2205 Lower Mall,
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

September 18th, 2020

To Whom it May Concern: 

Please consider my application for The University of British Columbia’s, ENGL 301A, Professional Writing Team. I will graduate from the University of British Columbia in April of 2021 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies- Behavioral Marketing and Sales. My English Professor, Erika Paterson, held this position in high regard and encouraged me to apply.

I grew up in Walnut Creek California and attended an all-boys school called De La Salle. While at De La Salle, I was a leader for their Student Coalition on Respectful Education (SCORE) program and a Peer Mentor. Within these positions one of my many responsibilities was to provide in-person assistance, in writing-based classes, to my peers. 

I’ve been involved on campus as a student athlete in UBC’s rugby program and am currently an active member in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, where I act as the Vice President and continually work to develop my social, leadership, and written skills. 

Most recently, I completed a Sales Development Internship at DocuSign in San Francisco. In my position, I wrote hundreds of emails, worked towards a quota, and learned how to write and operate within a professional setting. Before I began my internship at DocuSign I worked in Marketing at NBC Sports Bay Area and California. I primarily worked to engage individuals, through written content, from setup through activation, within our marketing events and promotions. Last summer, I was a Campus Ambassador for Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products, Inc. My goal was to distribute products and educate the consumer on its efforts towards sustainable work environments and forest regeneration. I wrote applications to be approved for every marketing event.

I have worked extremely hard to hone in on my professionalism, technical writing abilities, and organization. My education and experience, to date, will allow me to be a successful member of UBC’s 301A Professional Writing Team. 

Should my background meet your requirements, please email me at: evanfruiz@gmail.com or call me at (925) 285-0366. 

Warm regards, 

Evan Ruiz

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