Dear Professor Padgett,

Throughout my educational path, from Kindergarten to my Freshman year at the

University of South Carolina, one subject repeatedly caused me agony and pain. No, it was not

science, or math, or even history. It was English, and more specifically, writing. At an early age,

my spelling was nothing short of atrocious, but as I grew older, my family and I would have

make-shift spelling bees at the dinner table, to see which of my younger siblings could spell

better than I could. Usually, this was all of them. As I grew older, the spelling started to

improve, but my writing did not. My mom, who doubled as my personal writing tutor, would

constantly read over my writing, and tell me how rudimentary my sentences were, and how they

sounded like your fifth grade brother wrote them. It was tough for me, because I would

constantly tell my mother that this essay or paragraph was the best one I had written, and it just

turned out to be terrible upon second glance. It was not really until my senior year, writing

college essays, that I began to hit my stride. Writing more articulate sentences and putting

together more sophisticated structures improved my writing self-confidence. Fast forward to

first semester where I have seen my writing progress slowly, but surely. I now can email my

Mom an essay of mine, and her response involved mostly grammatical corrections, but otherwise

she was impressed with the content. I think this semester as well; I have continued to take

strides at becoming a better writer. This is largely due to the fact that we write a significant

amount. While I feel like my vocabulary is at times sub-par, I have made a conscience effort

both in writing and diction to use a more sophisticated lexicon.

While registering for English 102, I wasnt really sure what to expect. I assumed that we

would be reading a book or two, and writing essays and various responses. In fact, it was the
total opposite. Throughout the year, we worked on improving our writing skills, as well as our

research skills. Through countless exercises, we learned about inquiry and exigence, and overall

how to do research beyond typing a sentence into Google. Countless resources were presented to

us, like the Academic Search Complete. This proved to be a valuable research tool, which in

conjunction with the Thomas Cooper Library, is where I found the majority of my sources. One

thing I underestimated coming into this semester was the time and effort it takes to find and

incorporate great sources into an essay. In the past, I would be the one to type a phrase into

Google, and use the first link that popped up. The process of researching, to me, is a more

lengthy and detail-oriented process. A second skill that we worked on in class involved peer

reviews. This process was valuable on many levels. Being able to read the work of my peers

was not only interesting but proved insightful. Having to read the work of others through a more

critical lens lent itself to a deeper understanding of what I reading. Further, the suggestions

given to me by my peers were helpful. They brought attention to various areas that perhaps

needed more attention or a more thorough explanation. I also felt like I learned valuable lessons

during these sessions, some of them reaching beyond writing. Working cooperatively in a group

is something that is important both in and out of the classroom. Further, leadership was another

quality that was fostered within this class. Some of the members of my group were shy. I felt

obligated to get them involved in our group conversation, continually asking them their

opinions.

After completing my research, the task of molding our new found knowledge into a

coherent essay was a hefty task. Initially, the inquiry proposal was the most difficult for me. I

had so many different ideas and potential pathways that I wanted to explore, narrowing my focus

proved challenging. The topic that I chose, Virtual Reality in sports, initially was deemed too
specific. It was recommended that I either choose a new topic or find another way to broaden

my ideas involving Virtual Reality. This was very difficult, mainly because I had already begun

researching my topic, and was not particularly fond of starting over. However, this became a

blessing in disguise. By slightly modifying my inquiry question to involve Virtual Reality in the

medical field, a new focus was born. I enjoyed conducting research on this new topic, because

my findings were so interesting. The technology behind Virtual Reality was truly awe-

inspiring. Overall, the process and strategies behind inquiry was a very challenging aspect of the

final essay. In the end, however, I wouldnt do anything differently. Researching in order to

choose a topic and eventually changing topics were both exercises in the inquiry process for me.

I believe that the methodical steps in the research process that we took throughout the semester

will continue to serve me in my college career.

Sincerely,

Matt Mulham