I found our third writing unit for Technical Communication to be very writing intensive. A few new techniques were introduced, such as the concept of You-Attitude. We made further progress on our formal reports. We also started our job application packages. It was a busy three weeks.

The You-Attitude was an entirely new concept for me. It gave us many points to follow or consider while we wrote pieces that were reviews of another person’s work. It also applies to any writing where the intended audience needs to be considered. While I often keep many of these topics in mind without thinking (e.g. formal or neutral tone in relaying information), I had never looked at these concepts from an academic perspective. This really helped organize my thought process when constructing a review of someone else’s work.

When it came time to write letters of formal complaints to a business, the You-Attitude was helpful in laying out the groundwork for the letter, as well as keeping a neutral and formal tone throughout the letter. Writing the letters themselves I did not find too challenging – I was able to draw off a previous conflict that I encountered at my own office of employment. I used this to write both the complaint letter and the response to the customer. I found it easiest to write the letters in the way I would rather have seen them written when I dealt with the scenario in the actual workplace. This was a good way to practice the new writing techniques we had just learned while reinforcing my current writing practices in a professional setting.

The rest of the unit was focused on the formal report. In unit two, we drafted a proposal and outlined a plan that we could use to organize our thoughts, plan data gathering and begin constructing the formal report. Again, I chose to draw on current work experiences when deciding on a report topic. I drafted a report on the current state of billing resources that are available to physicians in British Columbia. I work at a walk-in medical clinic, so I have access to current resources as well as contacts from which I can collect survey and interview data. I think writing on a topic I am already close to was why I found writing up the draft report to come so naturally. I kept the You-Attitude in mind, but using the proposal and outline from previous units, I completed my draft. It was still a lot of work, but the organization we created beforehand was vital in making the process as smooth as it was.

Again, we performed peer reviews for each others work. This time it was for the formal report draft. Ying’s report on the ROX was very well organized and well written. While not complete, I could already tell where the report was going and how it would be completed. It also made me realize that my own report could have been more organized and more aesthetic. As we continue to perform these peer reviews, I am finding they become easier to write up. My thoughts and feedback become more organized. Creating a template for a specific assignment peer review is also becoming easier to create. I am pleased with how much I am learning throughout this course.

An ongoing part of both unit two and unit three has been the beginnings of the job application package. During unit three, I was able to find a job posting on the UBC Careers website that was related to my current field of study. The plan for next week will be to finish writing my cover letter for that job posting, as well as edit my resume to suit the same. I believe this will be good practice for my upcoming co-op work placement in the fall.

Until next time…