Looking Back at this Semester
Taking English 301 at UBC proved to be a very worthwhile experience for me. I was skeptical upon enrolling because as a science major I have not spent a lot of time writing for academic purposes. Nevertheless, my worries were quelled early on in the semester. I will leave English 301 with a set of invaluable skills that will serve me as I pursue my future education and career goals. Thanks Dr. Paterson!
At the beginning of the semester, I noted in my Letter of Application that I am often too verbose in my writing. This verbosity led to me producing run-on sentences and failing to articulate my ideas. I realized after reading the peer review of my Definition Assignment that this deficiency in my writing had become a habit. It was then clear to me that I would have to be extremely mindful of this while submitting assignments for English 301. Now that the semester has concluded, I think it is safe to say that I have significantly improved this aspect of my writing. The peer reviews that I received as the semester moved along no longer brought up my overly verbose ways. I also noted in my unit reflections that I have been able to mostly rid my writing of this bad habit. I hope that my writing from here on out reflects this improvement without taking away from my strengths (formulating a powerful argument, expansive vocabulary).
To me, the structure of English 301 was as follows: Read about and learn technical writing skills and then apply them to assignments that mimic real life. I am extremely pleased with how this course was laid out. Like most others, I enrolled in this class to improve my technical writing skills but getting to deploy these skills in the form of memos, emails, reflections, peer reviews and a formal report was a great surprise. These work-environment assignments have given me the confidence to produce such works if needed in career and professional school settings.
The peer review process of English 301 was truly unique. Being a science major, I hear a lot about peer reviewing and its importance but I have never gotten to experience it for myself. Even the few writing based classes I have taken never really included it in their curriculum. Analyzing the work of my peers has opened my eyes to many effective yet different writing styles. By making notes of the powerful writing that I reviewed, I was able to improve my own writing greatly. I believe that we naturally stick to a style of writing that is natural to us, however, being exposed to novel styles of writing can allow us to apply different techniques to different situations as is best suited. Furthermore, performing peer reviews has allowed me to better identify common errors in university level writing. Personally, I feel that I had become somewhat desensitized to the errors in my writing. Reviewing my peers assignments by following the checklists of Dr. Paterson caused me to see such common errors and realize that I was actually making them in my own assignments (before I submitted them). Why I didn’t notice these common errors such as beginning sentences with “it”, improperly using commas and producing run-on sentences when editing my own work I do not know.
Despite not having any midterms or exams, English 301 was definitely not an easy course. As a science major, this material as well as WordPress was completely new to me. This course was fast paced and it held me accountable as assignments were usually do weekly. There was no room for “cramming” in English 301. I believe that one of my strengths as a student is my ability to be diligent when it comes to keeping up with course material. English 301 enforced this and also sparked me to employ this mentality in my other courses. Attention to detail is something that I value and to my pleasure, it was rewarded in English 301. I hope that my strengths of staying on top of things and paying attention to detail and requirements will serve me well as I attempt to achieve my goal of gaining acceptance to medical school.
Overall, I am extremely happy that I chose to take English 301 this semester. It has fostered in me skills that I would never have learned otherwise. Not only that, but English 301 has prepared me for life after my undergrad in the form of a professional resume, cover letter, reference requests and a Web Folio! I am very grateful for the way Dr. Paterson has taught this class and for the support and reviews of my classmates. Thanks everyone!