I came across ENGL 301 while looking for an online elective to take this term and this course has been my most enjoyable course so far! I enjoyed how this course strays away from English classes about analyzing literature and focuses on communication between others. Communication is such an important skill especially with how easy it is to connect with people all over the world. The assignments in this course are all applicable to daily life in the professional world so practicing all these techniques in this course benefits us all.
One strength I’ve come across is writing reflections about my work. I think self-reflection is a strength of mine because I’m usually thinking about what things I could have done better, or how these assignments benefit me in the future. There’s always a lesson to learn from past mistakes or shortcomings and by keeping an open mind and being optimistic, I feel more receptive to all feedback. And because of that, I end up having a lot to say about what I think about the course, or things that I can improve on. As a whole, self-reflection also helps me what summarize what I’ve learned so far and also allows me to put my learning into practice which is how I learn best.
That said, there’s a weaknesses that I’ve realized from going through my Evaluation Sheet and struggles I’ve had when writing assignments which is writing with a “You” attitude. Writing with a “You” attitude is a writing style that is very new to me and while I’m glad that I’ve learned this style, it is a challenge to consistently write this way. It’s difficult to consistently write this way since I have to be constantly aware of what I’m writing, keeping the “You” attitude in mind. If I lose focus during writing, this could result in a negative tone in one part of the assignment.
Overall, what I’ve learned in this course I can take with me in the future. Whether I end up in education, student engagement, or research, I’d be practicing the writing with “You” attitude through working with people, reviewing each other’s work. And also, interacting with people through memos and emails, and writing to cater to a specific audience is something I would be practicing daily in the near future. The skills learned from creating a web folio and application package, will be very beneficial for applying to jobs, creating more application packages and to showcase myself as my career progresses. Additionally, having a LinkedIn profile makes it easier to explore new career opportunities, to build my own brand and to connect with others with similar professional interests.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this course and I am surprised with how much I’ve learned. The best part about this course was being able to put the lessons into practice which is something I feel is missing in a lot of courses I’ve taken. I’m excited to continue practicing what I’ve learned in this course in my career.