Zainab’s English 301 Blog

The English 301 learning process was not so smooth or easy, which is what I expected as someone who usually cannot come up with the right words nor fancies writing as a whole. However, undertaking this course was imperative for me to get serious about my technical writing skills in a professional environment as an aspiring economist. I struggled with condensing my sentences and formalizing my tone through assignments but looking back at my work, I am now more confident in my writing.

Some assignments, like the formal report, required a lot of structuring, organizing, and sticking to guidelines. It also required scrutinizing a large chunk of data and attention to detail, making it one of my hardest assignments. I struggled with this assignment but after peer-reviews and second looks, I felt satisfied by doing my best. Although, keeping aside more time to work on the formal report and working on it over time would have made for a more effective result.

Other assignments, such as the definition assignment or the web folio were easier to finish. I realized how I tend to work better on tasks that are short and not have many guidelines to follow. Moreover, giving and receiving peer reviews were the most salient part of the course. Peer reviews allowed me to learn from other mistakes, brilliant work, and ideas as well as perfect the art of constructive feedback and pay attention to common mistakes.

The English 301 course really helped me grasp the professional tones and attention to detail that are necessary in my career. I look forward to taking these learnings and integrating them into my everyday work.

Creating a web-folio was not a challenging but rather a satisfactory task. Compiling, selecting, and consolidating the information and assignments to display my learnings and accomplishments was the best part of this course. Completing this assignment allowed me to look over all my work from the beginning to the end and analyze the change in my writing. With no doubt, I realized how helpful the numerous peer reviews, the textbook guidelines, and the tips from the instructor’s blog were.

Appreciating and learning how to peer review, implementing new techniques of writing such as the YOU attitude, and editing out imperative verbs, I am sure will help me in writing my formal reports or research papers in the future. Especially, now looking at how the world is progressing amid the COVID-19 pandemic the importance of having such online accessible portfolios seem unquestionable.

Personally, working part-time, taking two summer courses, and volunteering made it difficult to keep up with the assignments. However, I managed to keep pushing myself and enjoy the battle. Overall, I really enjoyed the course and feel confident about my ‘writing’. I would like to thank my team mates and Dr.Patterson for all the feedback and teaching.

The deadline for submitting the formal report draft fell during a very busy and hectic time in my life. With my schedule all mapped out to get the draft ready on time, it was unfortunate to have a lot of unplanned things happen at the same time. Although it was hard to take time out to work on the draft, I managed to submit my work on time. This was only possible because I was ready with the data from the surveys and I had a rough idea of how the draft would look like. I had to skim over the data quickly and make the first drafts of the pie charts and graphs, which seemed harder and more time consuming than expected. It was also a struggle to decide what questions from the surveys would be the ones that make it to the draft, as in what were the deciding questions for the solution to my research. Being an economics student I am used to thorough research papers and so I am yet to feel satisfied with my work, which I believe I will achieve when the formal report is submitted as a whole.

Peer reviewing Jiajie’s report was a delight. I got to learn so much about wildfires caused by humans themselves. Jiajie’s report held great purpose for the intended audience not only locally but globally. His formal report showcased his expertise and passion for the topic. The formal report holds a large portion of our grades and so I wanted to make sure I was giving Jiajie a good review just as he gave me. The main aspect of my peer-reviewing for Jiajie’s report was to inform him about condensing the document, rephrasing, and reorganizing his conclusion section. I made sure my review provided both the positives and areas of improvement of his draft.

I have started to work on my finalizing my formal report. Going over Jiajie’s work has reminded me about certain things I planned to include in my own report and it also reminded me about guidelines that I was missing out on. Right now, my report falls short of the required page count, but I am sure I will be able to achieve a page count closer to the target length as I expand on my work and include more data from my surveys.

I look forward to completing the final draft of my formal report for this course and share my results with the intended audience.

Zainab Formal Report Draft

Having created a LinkedIn profile in my first year of university, this part of the assignment wasn’t new to me. However, I had not been an avid user of the platform as I got busy with school and work. This assignment allowed me to revive my profile. I got the chance to connect with new co-workers, fellow UBC students, and professors. I also realized how I hadn’t received any guidance in regards to how to optimally use the LinkedIn profile. Researching on how to have an excellent LinkedIn profile, then improving my personal profile, and receiving a peer review has really helped me see areas of improvement and things I had missed out.

The process of brainstorming and preparing my formal report proposal and outline required a lot of communication with my roommates, friends in the AMS, and other fellow students studying at UBC. I felt satisfied knowing my research topic wasn’t something that could only stay within this course of English 301 but actually be used to help AMS administration finds effective ways to encourage students to vote in student elections. Having a schedule prepared for my investigations and for preparing a Formal Report, I feel confident about how everything for the formal report is going to come together.

While peer-reviewing Joanna’s research proposal I realized how every individual has their own unique interpretations, methods of execution, and writing styles. Even if we follow rules and guidelines, it was fascinating to see how varied our thought processes are and so I made sure to carefully review the proposal because it was not just about mere words or grammar errors, it was about their ideas and thought processes. I am excited to see what Joanna and other students come up with for their final report.

Overall, I am extremely thankful to Joanna and Jiajie for their peer reviews this week, as with the amount of work I had on my plate, I could not have perfected my work if it was not for their detailed and constructive reviews. Peer reviewing has helped me feel more confident about my work and open my mind to possibilities that I could not have thought about before. The process has made me realize the tiny mistakes we overlook and write keeping in mind how I would have liked a write-up to be presented if I was in the editor’s shoe.

Revised Report Proposal:

Revised Report Proposal, Zainab Rauf Tramboo

Peer Review Received by Joanna:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-98a-2020sa/2020/06/24/peer-review-of-zainab-rauf-tramboos-research-proposal/

Reflection Blog 1

As I first read the instructions for this assignment, I thought it would be an easy task to write on. However, when I sat down to choose a complex economic term to define to a non-technical audience, I realized how hard this task really was. Putting things you think you know into words is not so easy. I also realized how most words in economics as so abstract, for example, utility. Words like ‘utility’ might seem easy to define but when you dive into every aspect of the definition you yourself tend to lose track. So I made sure to start off by writing the definition like I would expect an easy-to-read textbook to have written. I also placed myself in a blank slate and wrote like I was taking notes of a word I came across for the first time. I kept asking myself questions i.e. when I was a first-year university student did I even know what interest rate was?

The peer-review process allowed me to look at Jiajie’s brilliant work at defining the term “Lane’s Scale”. I would first like to thank Jiajie for doing a great job at defining the term and helping me learning something new. While peer-reviewing Jiajie’s work I automatically took note of things I missed out in my writing i.e. choosing a reading situation. The peer-reviewing process helped me appreciate the small attention to details we miss out while writing and how important it is to have a third eye to look at our work. With no background in environmental science, it was easy for me to catch a hold of terms that I would need further explanations on from Jiajie. I realized the importance of to-the-point condensed writing.

Jiajie’s review of my work was extremely helpful in my editing process. As I read through his review I came across such simple mistakes and overlooked aspects that I didn’t even realize I had missed out on i.e. title of my assignment, subheading under my expanded definition, etc. Jiajie gave me some great advice that I did not find necessary at first i.e. why not give an example of how the whole bond process works to give your assignment a reference point? or why not talk about different types of bond. Overall, after Jiajie’s peer review I felt like I had guidance and felt more confident while editing.

My editing process went smoothly, mostly because I had someone peer-review it and I had found things I wanted to add on and fix after I had already submitted the first draft. I realized how important it is to take breaks from your writing and come back with a fresh mind to re-read your work to make sure it’s perfect.

Discussed assignments can be found below:

Original Definition:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-98a-2020sa/2020/06/06/69978/

Revised Definition:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-98a-2020sa/2020/06/12/revised-definition-bond/

Word document file of the Revised Definition:

RevisedDefinition- Bond

Peer-review from Jiajie:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-98a-2020sa/2020/06/10/peer-review-for-zainab/

Peer-review for Jiajie:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-98a-2020sa/2020/06/10/peer-review-for-jiajie/

Dear Joanna,

I recently had the opportunity to read your application letter on your student blog. I took particular interest in your academic work, as you and I seem to both be studying economics. I greatly value your knowledge in writing academic essays and research papers, as well as your experience with writing economic reports. Thus, I would be thrilled to have you work with me on one of the professional writing teams.  

I believe us being in a team together would help bring different areas of expertise to the table. This would be beneficial during discussions, reflections, and group assignments. If you would like to form a team with me, please let me know. I have attached my application letter to this email for your convenience.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Zainab Rauf Tramboo 

301 Zainab Rauf Tramboo Application letter

Dear Jiajie,

To: Dr. Erika Paterson

From: Zainab Rauf Tramboo

Date: May 22, 2020

Subject: Posting of Application letter

As instructed in the course schedule, I have posted my application letter to my student blog in the hope of being recruited to join a professional writing team for the course.

My application letter talks about the following information:

• My professional experiences
• My academics
• What I’ve learned from both my professional experiences and academics
• My professional interests
• My strength and weaknesses when it comes to technical writing and work ethic
• Learning philosophy

The application letter is attached as a word document below. I appreciate all questions or feedback that you would have regarding my letter. If it requires any changes or adjustments, please do not hesitate to contact me at znbtrmb@gmail.com or through Canvas.

Sincerely,

Zainab Rauf Tramboo

301 Zainab Rauf Tramboo Application letter

5178 Dunbar Street

Vancouver, BC, V6T 1X7

May 22, 2020

Technical Writing (English 301) Summer Class of 2020

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1

Dear Students of Technical Writing:

I am writing to you as a part of my application to be accepted into your professional writing team for this course. I believe I can be a worthy teammate due to my work ethics, skills, and experiences in relation to technical writing, which I will further discuss briefly in this letter.

As stated in my blog, currently I part-time as a Financial Analyst at Oreninc and till last semester I was the Vice President Analytics for the Red Cross club at the University of British Columbia (UBC). As a Financial Analyst, I read and analyse up to fifteen mining sector stock market news releases every other weekday and formally write to clients and companies about their financial inquiries. As the Vice President of the Red Cross UBC, my position entailed me to write to various internal and external event sponsors, as well as formally document work of the club throughout the year. Both these positions have been salient in allowing me to learn how to write professionally as well as develop the writing ability to convey my thoughts clearly with regards to different subject matters. All these skills mentioned above would be invaluable to our professional writing team.

At UBC I study Bachelors of International Economics (BIE). My time in UBC has provided me with a myriad of opportunities in terms of being able to effectively communicate, work and learn from people with diverse backgrounds. BIE is a rigorous economics program that has required me to read, comprehend and write several academic research papers and journals. The topics of these journals and papers range from international trade, finance, development, to micro-macro level economics. Thus, illustrating my natural focus on being able to excel in technical writing and my professional interest in working in organizations that work towards helping communities thrive economically.

As indicated above, my strengths in terms of writing skills and work ethics include, but are not limited to, the following: diligence, time management, attention to detail, clarity and determination to always do my best. My tangible experience in writing business documents, emails and research papers are extremely beneficial. My technical writing weaknesses would be my limited experience in writing different types of professional documents. However, this is exactly why I decided to be a part of this course.

My learning philosophy is very much embedded in learning by doing the task on my own and learning from my mistakes. I learn best when I read, see sample work and then try to do it. Moreover, I am comfortable learning within a group or independently.

If you are interested in forming a team with me for this course, you can contact me through Canvas or email, znbtrmb@gmail.com, as per the course schedule and outline. I am thrilled to begin working with you and getting to know you.

Sincerely,

Zainab Rauf Tramboo

Technical Writing Student of English 301

University of British Columbia

301 Zainab Rauf Tramboo Application letter