Usman Zahoor
5960 Student Union Blvd
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
September 17, 2019
ENGL 301 – Technical Writing
University of British Columbia
2329 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Fellow classmates,
I am writing regarding my interest in becoming a part of a semester long writing team for ENGL 301. I hope to become a part of a well-rounded team that aims to create a positive environment filled constructive feedback and support.
I am a fourth year Biology student with a lot of experience synthesizing complex scientific phenomena and processes through scientific papers, press releases and reports. Scientific writing must not only be concise and well written, but also tactfully presented in order to communicate effectively with the general public. This has allowed me to develop writing skills which are useful not only in communicating with other scientists but also individuals with little science background. In my work capacity as a sales consultant at BestBuy Mobile, I have also developed another unique writing style focused on addressing customer service. Being a senior member of my sales team, I am routinely required to communicate to and for clients. I regularly have to send emails to handle customer escalations as well as communicating with various carrier representatives from Rogers, Bell and Telus. Writing in a work environment where what I say can even be used in a legal setting is more daunting than in science but has enabled me to learn how to communicate professionally through email.
However, some of my weaknesses that I hope to improve on through this course are being even more concise and direct, and further improving my technical vocabulary.
Having played competitive sports growing up, my learning philosophy is to be continuously improving through practice and repetition. I am eager to further develop my writing skills though this class. I hope to learn more from my technical writing team members through their feedback on my work. I also hope to be able to be an asset to the team by providing timely communication and fostering a positive environment.
I look forward to speaking with those of you that would like to embark on this technical writing journey with me and supporting each other along the way. You can reach me at usmanzahoor@alumni.ubc.ca.
Sincerely,
Usman Zahoor