Throughout this course, I have honed many skills in terms of technical writing and creating documents in the workplace. While it is not one of my best skills, it is an important aspect in moving up in a career. Having these skills in order to create a professional atmosphere is crucial when applying to different levels of jobs, it could be the difference between you and another candidate.

In unit 1, it was interesting learning how to write things as simple as memos. It is something in my job I have never written as a lot of the communication is done face to face in healthcare. While something  corporate is not a job I aspire to do, it was good to learn as I will be continuing my education into teaching and may have to use this format one day.

Unit 2 was more diverse in terms of content. I liked learning more about LinkedIn as I have never really had to use it before as networking is not an incredibly important part of work in private dental offices if that is where you want your career to lead. In terms of extending your career beyond clinical practice, either in teaching, research, or sales.

The formal research report took up a lot time in unit 3, and it was scary at first to look at the gravity of that assignment, however it just took long periods of time. Luckily, because it was a subject I was knowledgable in, the paper went more smoothly than I anticipated. by the time I was writing the conclusion I felt like I had learned a lot in terms of composition. The confidence I gained will help the next paper I write and hopefully it will be even better.

While unit 4 was a lot of finishing up, it was a good finisher.My biggest goal throughout this course was to submit on time, and to the best of my ability. July was such a busy time in my career that it was something I really wanted to work towards, and more of the time everything was done in a timely matter. While I know I need to continue my work in proof reading and creating formats that match with the instruction, I think I made great headway in forging out my own writing style both professional and personal.

The process of creating this web folio was interesting as I have never heard of them before. I was aware of websites displaying examples of work, like a business model, however never in this format. It was nice to go over all of my work again and further refine everything. Its good practice for the workplace and making sure everything is read over multiple times before submitting, which is something I will always need to work on.

Creating the resume and application package portion was slightly awkward as I was not used to this particular format of resume, however with help from the textbook it made it easier to learn. I like designing and creating a space that fits my personality, it was nice that I was able to do so with this website. I am unsure whether I will end up actually submitting it as part as a job application, but it makes a good database to keep and store information relating to another future career.

In my humble opinion, the formal report draft was one of the most stressful things I have done. However, it was due to a time where my job was incredibly busy, and I was also moving apartments. So really the formal report was just the stress-induced icing on the cake. I total, I had a great time collecting information, as I just asked my patients who were eligible to be interviewed. I just asked them the survey questions, and recorded their responses so that gathering of information fit well into my day. Putting it all together was time consuming and at times difficult to learn how to arrange everything, but I likes being able to rely on my own expertise as well as the data in writing a (hopefully) comprehensive and education piece of work. Dental is an area of expertise that I am confident in, as I am working the field everyday. I feel lucky to be able to explore my interests in policy and funding in this way, and I hope to improve upon these skills in the future.

I have been having a relatively easy time putting the formal report together. however it is a very large assignment to be done in a short period of time. This has reflected in my group. As of today (July 27th at 4:00pm EST) only one other group member has posted their formal report draft to our team forum. This has pushed my schedule limitations even further as I was hoping to do my peer review and editing earlier this week. Team work brings these challenges all the time, however with such a short time period between due dates, the team members who submit on time are at a disadvantage.

 

To be honest, I have never created a LinkedIn profile until very recently, following a continuing education course that sparked a curiosity into using social media for career development. I quickly realized that it is a very useful but overwhelming platform that needs some time to get used to. By doing this assignment I was able to read more into the common practices behind a successful profile. It felt strange and kind of robotic at first, but I was able to add a bit more “me” after I read other profiles and found they were much more personable.

I still feel very insecure that I will be able to produce 12-15 pages of a formal report that expected of us. I have already been asking my patients questions about their experiences with their dental care programs and I’ve discovered some pretty interesting things. However I know there will be a lot of work coming up so I am trying to get my primary data taken care of as soon as possible. I worry that I will be rushed because it is due in a relatively tight period of time and that worries me as I want to be able to put a lot of effort in it while also staying on tip of my other class and working full time.

When peer reviewing my partners proposal, it was very insightful looking into another persons interests and what they are passionate about. I was getting better at looking at work from an objective perspective and see what I was confused with and needed some help. My reading and writing needs help through me putting more time into it. I often rush to do things because there is always something to do or work to complete and then I just try and get through what I am doing as fast as possible. I love reading my peer’s work. Their writing encourages me to focus on what I am passionate about and to put my heart into my work.

 

Revised Proposal

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30198a2022s12/2022/07/11/revised-proposal-olivia/

Peer Review by Rida

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30198a2022s12/2022/06/29/olivia-fournier-peer-review-by-rida/

 

For the first unit of this course, I found that I have learned quite a bit in terms of professional writing tone and composure. In this assignment, the objective was to educate and inform, but in a professional manner. I was nervous walking into this assignment, as I had been told in the past that I often “over-complicate” when it comes to explaining new terms or ideas to others. I found that I often struggled with finding the correct words to use when speaking to someone not in my field. It is something I have had to greatly improve upon in my career when talking to my patients. This assignment would be a challenge but I was excited to see how my abilities have improved.

When writing my own assignment, I found myself moving quickly through the work. I knew what I was talking about, and I had been teaching the term to a patient a week prior, so I felt pretty confident. However, I know there are other aspects of my writing that need work. I often find that I move too quickly, from reading instructions to the assignment itself. After submitting the assignment, I realized that I should have went over all of the instructions before posting. There are always aspects here and there that I forget to include, in this case it was the introduction to the assignment, as well as re-reading to make sure the grammar and spelling was correct. In reviewing the assignment of my peer, Izabel, I found that I was able to see the differences between mine and her writing.  She was very thorough, and I appreciated the attention to detail. When revising my assignment, I looked at both he work done by my peer and my peer review to see what changes needed to be made.

Upon reviewing the assignment, I found it easy to re-read and make changes as I went through. the skill of review is something I need to improve a lot on and I hope to continue to get better as this course continues. Reading instructions thoroughly and not speeding through needlessly is something else to improve.

Reviewing my partners assignment I found to be difficult. I often am not in the position to critique and advise my classmates, so I was rather uncomfortable with the task. I realized however that the point was to learn from the exercise and embrace the challenge of giving advise to a classmate. Reading through multiple times helped me to understand why going over assignments is so helpful, and because i did not know the term I was reading about, it was easy to read it as a new learner. Creating a peer review for the work came with ease, as there were more positives then changes to be made. Unit one was very interesting and insightful, I cant wait to learn more.

 

Revised Definition

Revised Definition – Olivia – English 301 98A Technical Writing (ubc.ca)

Peer Review

Peer Review of Definitions Assignment – Olivia – English 301 98A Technical Writing (ubc.ca)

Hello Rida,

I hope that you are well and are enjoying this class so far. I am sending this email to ask if you would be open to being my teammate in a writing team for this semester. After reading your application letter, I believe that we would work well together on the projects in this technical writing course. We share our professional and we have worked very well with each other in previous courses as well. Please let me know when you have a moment if you are interested in my proposition.

 

Thank you for your time.

Best,

Olivia Fournier

livfour@student.ubc.ca

301 Olivia Fournier Application Letter

 

Hello Jessica,

I hope that you are well and are enjoying this class so far. I am sending this email to ask if you would be open to being my teammate in a writing team for this semester. After reading your application letter, I believe that we would work well together on the projects in this technical writing course. Your application was very interesting and I believe that you have much knowledge to share in regards to your experiences in the professional world. Please let me know when you have a moment if you are interested in my proposition.

Thank you for your time.

Best,

Olivia Fournier

livfour@student.ubc.ca

301 Olivia Fournier Application Letter

 

Hello Izabel,

I hope that you are well and are enjoying this class so far. I am sending this email to ask if you would be open to being my teammate in a writing team for this semester. After reading your application letter, I believe that we would work well together on the projects in this technical writing course. I really liked what you had to say regarding your strengths and weaknesses. I too often have trouble with the creative process, we could help each other there. Please let me know when you have a moment if you are interested in my proposition.

Thank you for your time.

Best,

Olivia Fournier

livfour@student.ubc.ca

301 Olivia Fournier Application Letter

MEMO

To: Dr. Erika Paterson

From: Olivia Fournier, English 301

Date: May 30th, 2022

Subject: Application Letter Posting

I am pleased to inform you that I have posted my letter of application on my personal blog in the hopes of finding a writing team for this semester.
In my letter of application, I cover the following:
– A brief introduction, as well as awards I have won for my writing.
– My education, from secondary school to the university of British Columbia.
– Experiences with different types of writing; both recreational and used in my career.
– Habits and expectations when it comes to group work .

Attached is a copy of my application letter for your convenience.

301 Olivia Fournier Application Letter

May 27^th, 2022

 

English 301 98A Technical Writing

 

Subject: Application for Writing Team

 

Dear classmates;

 

Looking forwards at this coming semester, I am excited for the writing skills we will all develop together. Writing has always been a passion of mine; however, it has only been in the past couple of years where I have had to move my purpose for writing from recreational to professional. The experience I have gained in my career would hopefully be an asset to a writing team. In my younger years in school, I came 3^rd place in a speech contest, and well as winning an award for academic excellence in English writing skills when graduating.

I graduated from John Abbott College in 2020 from the dental hygiene program and have been working as a dental hygienist in Ottawa since then. Being in a career has forced me to adapt to the changing workplace in these changing technological times. Furthering my education at UBC’s faculty of dentistry has allowed me to extend my skills into other areas of writing, such as research papers and literature reviews.

I hope that you will consider me to join your writing team and have faith that my references would vouch for my abilities as well as my skills when it comes to working as a team.

I thank you for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you all soon.

 

Sincerely,

Olivia Fournier

livfour@student.ubc.ca

301 Olivia Fournier Application Letter

Hello!

My name is Olivia and I am a 22 year old dental hygienist living in Ottawa, Ontario. Originally however, I grew up in a more rural area on an island so I’ve always felt more comfortable by bodies of water. I lived in Montreal for 3 years when I went to school at John Abbott college for my dental hygiene diploma. Unfortunately, I was due to graduate 3 months after the pandemic started, so I have yet to have a formal graduation. My career is my passion and I am currently working towards my Bachelors of dental sciences (BDSC) in the faculty of dentistry at UBC. I live with my partner and my two bunny rabbits named Rosie and Robbie (both girls, Robbie is apparently short for Roberta now after we thought we brought home a little boy).They are absolute joys and are in fact litter trained so they can roam free like cats in our house.

I have one younger brother who also lives in Ottawa, he works for the government in HR so he would likely do very well in this course! Outside of teeth and bunnies, I taught myself to knit and crochet last year and have been making little knick knacks ever since! A couple of months ago, I came across some blanket yarn, and I have been crocheting blankets for kids in the oncology ward at the local children’s hospital.

I am completing my university education because I would like to teach dental hygiene at one of the local collages, or perhaps pharmacology at a university n the faculty of dentistry. I have a passion for the health and oral wellness in Indigenous communities, and I hope to possibly develop programs for isolated locations one day. Public health is so incredibly important. Even though I have only been working in my career for 2 years, I can recognize a huge need for inter-professional collaboration to better the health systems in these communities.

Thank you for reading! I am so excited to meet all of you!