Category Archives: Blog

When reflecting on the process of composing my formal report draft, I should have spent more time on it. The researching aspect was interesting. Sending the survey I wrote to my coworkers and seeing the responses that came back gave me a great insight in how people in the office see recycling. What is shocking is the feedback people have provided regarding other people.

The organization aspect of the draft was challenging. Aside from the skeleton structure that was already worked on in previous assignments, determining the order of which piece of the survey to present before others caused me headache. It was an issue for me as I wanted to ensure the most logical flow to support my claim.

The biggest roadblock was writing the content of the draft – especially the data section and recommendations. I have a difficult time to integrate the data that was collected through the surveys and in-person interview into the draft. It still feels that way but when I was first writing it, the data seemed very abrupt. Furthermore, I struggled with writing the recommendations for next steps.

I found the task of peer reviewing to be quite rewarding. Not only am I suggesting possible improvements for my teammate, simultaneously I am being made more aware of my own writing and which areas I lack in. I look forward to incorporating the peer review I received to further improve my draft!

 

PDF of formal report draft: 301-Lansi-Chu-Formal-Report-Draft

Unit two focused mostly on professionalism – how to write professionally and how to present the self professionally. The LinkedIn assignments were very helpful and practical in that it created a better online presence for myself. I already had an account, however, it was outdated. The exercise of researching best practices for LinkedIn profiles was helpful in updating what I had.

As for my report proposal and outline, it was difficult to first come up with a worthwhile research topics. The brainstorming and preparing was time consuming for the issue needed to be large enough to conduct a research upon while still feasible for this assignment. Once that was settled, the rest came together relatively smoothly. During the process of brainstorming, it was tough to decide of how much background information to include. One example, as Fiona mentioned in her review of my report proposal, is Mobify’s motivations for being environmentally friendly. A concern of mine going forth is how to take the information gathered through interviews and surveys as evidence, or motivation, for a possible solution. Overall, after reading my partner’s review and reviewing my partner’s, I have learned that it is crucial to provide sufficient background information for the audience. This will allow for the report to be easily accepted as the motivation is carefully explained.

Through the peer review process, I have learned that I tend to write long sentences that should be broken down. Perhaps a helpful way to address this issue is to read the writings out loud for proofreading. Moveover, I should probably proofread my work at least a few hours after I have written it to see it with a “fresh” pair of eyes. When reviewing my partner’s report, I really appreciated the clear and concise wording that was used. I have edited my report based on my partner’s feedback and attached a .doc file copy below.

Revised Formal Report: 301-Lansi-Chu-Revised-Formal-Report

Link to feedback: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a/2018/10/17/peer-review-of-research-proposal-for-lansi-chu/

 

The first choice for this definition assignment was to decide on a term. I wanted to choose a term within my field of studies (computer science) that was applicable to our daily lives while having enough content to explain. When writing the three different levels of definitions, I needed to ensure that the way I explained the term, database, was easily understood for my intended audience. Thus, avoid jargons and when there were jargons, explain them as needed. Another choice that had to be made was what four types of expansion strategies to take. A visual representation is normally always a good way to explain a concept/term because of the way our brain process information. Utilizing examples is another method that I had chosen to explain the term. Personally, I understand much better when a concept is delivered through a concrete example. The last two methods I chose were history, for that there was a clear drive for the uprising of databases, and operating principle of how it works, for I thought it may be helpful for some to understand the mechanics of databases.

The process of peer-review has provided some perspective for me as a writer. Especially since I had written for the same assignment, I had my previously held views of how I would write for this assignment. Through reading others’ work for this assignment I was able to learn the way others think and their writing styles, which then I took to reflect on my own writing style of content. When I was reviewing my teammate’s work, I found it difficult to be critical of her work. I needed to read very carefully and actively in order to provide some constructive feedback. Another thing I learned is to read not from my own point of view but from that of another. My teammate and I share a common academic background, thus I was not reading from a non-technical person’s perspective. In order to critical this assignment, I needed to think how someone not familiar with this term would react.

When reading through my teammate’s critic on my work, I realized that I did not think from my audiences’ point of view throughout the entire assignment. Like she mentioned, I have included jargons (such as ‘relational database’) in my expanded definition without clearly defining it. Also, it was pointed out that with the same term, my writing was a bit off course, which may have confused the readers. After reading through her review, I was able to read my assignment from a third-person’s point of view. This allowed me to self-edit with less bias and more critical of my own work. I have learned that it is important to have someone else to look over your work as they may provide insights that were missed initially as well as returning to your work after a few days to review it with fresh eyes.

 

Here is a link to my teammate’s review of my assignment.

Attached here is my rewritten definitions assignment: LansiChu_DefinitionAssignment

From: chulansi@gmail.com

To: sandyen010995@gmail.com

Date: September 19th, 2018

Subject: ENGL 301 Team Formulation

Attachment: 301 Lansi Chu Application Letter

 

Hi Sandy,

After reading your Letter of Application, I believe that you and I would make a great team for English 301.

Seeing that we both have switched from our original majors to pursue computer science, this speaks to me that we have similar thinking. Although I am not the best at time management, I am hoping that I will be able to keep you accountable to help you overcome your weakness of procrastination. Lastly, I also believe that the best way to learn is through hands-on experiences, which we then can tackle problems together in similar manners.

Attached is my Letter of Application. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to being your team member and hearing back from you soon.

Best regards,

Lansi

English Technical Writing Classmate

 

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From: chulansi@gmail.com

To: kyo.hideki.tang@gmail.com

Date: September 19th, 2018

Subject: ENGL 301 Team Formulation

Attachment: 301 Lansi Chu Application Letter

 

Hi Kyo,

After reading your Letter of Application, I believe that you and I would make a great team for English 301.

We have many commonalities such as having a prior degree, especially in the field of business related topics. Currently, we are both pursuing our second degrees in computer science. This displays to me that we may have similar trains of thought, which would make working together relatively easy. Lastly, I appreciate the fact that you have a frank and straightforward style of writing for I believe I have the opposite. Thus, we may be able to assist each other. For these reasons, I believe we would make a great team.

Attached is my Letter of Application. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to being your team member and hearing back from you soon.

Best regards,

Lansi

English Technical Writing Classmate

 

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From: chulansi@gmail.com

To: fiona.ho@alumni.ubc.ca

Date: September 19th, 2018

Subject: ENGL 301 Team Formulation

Attachment: 301 Lansi Chu Application Letter

 

Hi Fiona,

After reading your Letter of Application, I believe that you and I would make a great team for English 301.

Your strengthen of conducting detailed and comprehensive edits and revisions complements the weakness of mine where I do not spend enough time reviewing my work as I rush to tackle the next problem. It seems that you are very detail oriented which I lack. I imagine that my tendency to rush to the next topic will also help you in finishing your assignments in a timely manner. For these reasons, I believe we would make a great team.

Attached is my Letter of Application. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to being your team member and hearing back from you soon.

Best regards,

Lansi

English Technical Writing Classmate

From: lansichu@alumni.ubc.ca

To: Erika.Paterson@ubc.ca

Subject: Letter of Application

Date: Wed. Sept 19, 2018 9:09PM

 

My letter of application for the formation of a writing team has been posted onto my UBC blog. A .doc file of the content is also attached to the blog post.

In my letter, I have included the following points:

• Vast experience utilizing professional verbal and written communication methods
• Enhancement of writing skills through various activities

I look forward to the rest of the semester to further improve not only my communication skills, but also teamwork skills and others. A copy of the letter of application is attached to this memo as well. Please let me know if you have any inquiry.

 

Best regards,

Lansi Chu

BCS 2019 | UBC

BCOM 2015 | Accounting

Email: chulansi@gmail.com

 

Letter of Application: 301 Lansi Chu Application Letter

3155 West 6th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6K 1X5

September 18, 2018

ENGL 301 99A
University of British Columbia
2329 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Dear classmates,

I am writing this letter to express my great interest in becoming part of your team for English 301 and convey why I make a great teammate. There have been various experiences which helped me excel my communication skills.

As a second degree student with a prior degree in commerce specializing in accounting, I have undergone countless situations where it was required for me to communicate with industry professionals, both verbally and written. Some examples of where I needed to exercise concise written skill was through email writing. As we all know, working professionals have busy schedules thus materials presented should be straight to the point. It seemed to be well perceived for I met with many professionals for information interviews as a result.

Furthermore, having worked in accounting firms, it has taught me to convey information clearly via written communication. Many times it is necessary to reach out to the customers to inquire regarding a form she/he may have submitted. Given the time sensitive scenario of tax season, it is crucial to express clearly of what is needed as well as the emergence. On top of accounting co-op, I have also completed and am doing co-op terms for computer science. I am currently doing my fifth co-op term with Mobify. With less human interaction, this did not lessen the need to write. With every piece of code written, documentation is required to assist along. The purpose of these documentations is to present the thought process and reasoning as to why something is done in a certain way. Through these experiences, not only have I strengthened my written communication skills but also enhanced my teamwork and leadership skills.

Lastly, throughout my school career, I have always enjoyed organizing events and activities. A recent experience is where I took on the role of Sponsorship Director. My time management and communication skills were put to the test. I need to reach out to possible sponsors in hope to receiving funding for nwHacks, the hackathon my team and I are organizing for 600 participants. It was a daunting task to raise $80,000 within three months. All the while juggling exams, assignments, and projects. This experience has tremendously improved both my time management and communication skills. We exceed our goal and were raised $100,000.

For the reasons mentioned I believe I will be a great teammate to have. Thanks for taking the time to reach through my letter and feel free to reach out to me at chulansi@gmail.com. I am excited to hear from you!

Best regards,

Lansi

 

Attached is my .doc file: LansiChuEngl301Assignment2

Hello everyone! I am Lansi Chu and Beijing, China is where I am originally from, however, my family and I moved to Vancouver, BC when I was young so my Mandarin is terrible. I am in the BCS program, which is the second degree program for Computer Science. My first degree was in Accounting from the Sauder School of Business here at UBC. So if you do the math I have been in school for quite a while. After a couple of co-op terms in accounting firms I realized that accounting was not the profession for me thus I pursued the BCS program. I have been lucky to be able to work co-op terms at SAP Vancouver, SAP Germany and now I am currently working at Mobify as a software engineer.

In all of these working environments professional writing was a crucial element. Of course we had meetings in person and such, but documentation and emails were important mediums of communication as well. I would like to further improve my technical/professional writing skills to be more concise!

I have always enjoyed being active – indoors or outdoors. In the summer time, to ensure the sun I like to go for a run outside, which also allows me to see more of the neighbourhood. As for the winter, I enjoy a chill ride down the slopes on my snowboard. For the other, mostly rainy, seasons, indoors activities is where you will find me. This is my first season participating in the Vancouver Dodgeball League and it has been a blast so far. When I am physically not able to keep up with these activities I also enjoy binging Netflix (anyone watch West World?) or playing my ever so addicting mobile games.

Looking forward to a fun semester!