Hannah Zapien

English 218 in My Future

An individual usually takes English 218 if it is aiding their career somehow. Technical
writing extends to many fields and relates to each of these fields in a different way. Be it business
or science, math or medical, technical communication is needed in order to be successful. With
my future in mind, taking a class around technical and scientific communication will be very
beneficial to me. I plan on getting a masters degree in microbiology and going on to medical
school to study to become a pathologist.
As an undergraduate working towards a masters in microbiology, if I do decide to
continue an academic residency at New Mexico State University, I plan on entering the research
program provided for undergraduate students. While gathering data and undergoing plenty of
research experiments, I will most likely utilize proposals or reports in order to convey data to
overseers. These research projects will contain countless amounts of data which can be organized
in an orderly manner utilizing aspects of technical writing. Quantitative data can be organized
into graphics and qualitative data can be organized with words, but while also utilizing learning
theory. The qualitative data can also be compared to the standards of an effective technical
document, since most medical and scientific writing works on being concise yet comprehensive.
In all research documents, accuracy is also especially important; if one set of data is conveyed in
a way that is hard to understand or inaccurate, the entire reliability of the author and of the
document as a whole could be compromised.
If I choose to not continue an academic residency at NMSU, I would more than likely
attend Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. I havent done enough research to
know if there are any research opportunities available to me as an undergraduate student.

However, the school of microbiology and pathology at Fort Collins will most likely have me
creating many documents to present data, or analyze data in the form of a case study. Even if I do
not create many technical documents as a student, I will analyze many tissue samples during my
4 year medical residency as I practice pathology in order to be recognized as a pathologist. The
research and analysis being done will most likely be presented to other pathologists as reports.
Technical Communication is utilized across many fields, so the course of English 218 can
help almost any student as they work towards a degree in any field of their choosing. In my case,
technical communication will aid me as I analyze multiple tissue samples and research disease
transmission and the way a disease interacts with the human body.