Reflection Essay

1. Can you see an improvement in your own writing throughout this semester? If so, describe
that improvement and how it developed. If not, describe how areas of improvement could be
better addressed in this course.
a. I think that overall, I did improve my writing slightly. I have not really had to do any
major writing assignments since high school, so getting to write extensive writing
assignments, such as the white paper, allowed me to regain some of the writing skills
that I have lost over the years. While I think some projects were very good and
allowed me to improve my writing, such as the instructions, white paper, and
engagement project, there were some projects, like the workplace correspondence,
that I did not favor and were confusing to me in terms of purpose and structure. So, if
I had to change the course, I would better introduce the email/memo and give some
more examples on how to do it properly. I also think the resume was a very important
assignment (especially for my major), so I also think some more emphasis on it
would help students.
2. What was your goal for this course, and did you meet it? If so, how did that happen? If not,
how do you think the course could be revised to better help other students meet that goal?
a. The main reason I took this course was a graduation requirement, but I also believe I
slightly improved my writing compared to before. It mostly occurred due to me being
forced to complete writing assignments because my major and minors rarely require
me to do any type of writing that an audience would read. The white paper was the
longest assignment and allowed me to fully take advantage of this class since it was
the longest assignment required for this class. I found the resume section to be very
helpful and actually got me a job over the summer, so I think putting more emphasis
and revision on that assignment would be beneficial for incoming students.
3. Which assignment are you most proud of and why? If you could add any assignment to this
course, what would it be? If you could edit any assignment in this course, what would it be?
a. I think the assignment I am most proud of is my white paper. It is the assignment that
I put the most time and effort into, and I believe it shows based on it being the highest
grade I got on an assignment and the minimal changes I had to make for the final
version. It also paved the way for every other assignment I did in this class which
made it much easier to write and plan for the following projects. As I have
mentioned, I think the number of assignments is a good amount, but I would have put
more emphasis on the resume. For my major, a resume is extremely important for
getting jobs, so I believe maybe putting this in the portfolio would be good. As I also
mentioned earlier, I had a hard time understanding the purpose and idea of the
workplace correspondence packet. I believe that adding additional examples for both
the email and memo would have helped me a lot more during the planning phase, so
for the next class, I would recommend doing this.