I learned this quarter that the most difficult challenge I face when completing a writing

assignment is just getting started. This means that the most important stage of the writing process

for all my projects this quarter was the planning stage. I found that when I can form a plan and I

know where I want to go, the ideas on how to execute the plan flow through my mind with ease.

Although I knew this, it was still difficult at times for me to even start planning. This is when I

would remember what I learned from Elbow’s, “Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking,” which details

how using first and second-order thinking can help elevate the writing process. This is because

first-order thinking helps with generating ideas and second-order thinking is what takes those

ideas and helps writers decide what is and is not working. When I would get stuck on where to

start, I would employ my first-order thinking to just get down everything I am thinking. Then I

would go in with my second-order thinking and see how I could incorporate these ideas into the

plan for my project.

I enjoyed writing the “Pokémon GO Away Stress!” portion of my genre translation

because it is the phrase that gave me the idea for the overall advertisement. When I knew that I

wanted to turn the article into a mental health advertisement I came up with that phrase and I

really liked it so I wanted to incorporate it somewhere into my project. The result was an

informative paragraph that conveys the benefits of Pokémon GO. This was fun for me because it

was enjoyable to learn about how a video game could improve a person’s health. It was also

enjoyable for me to be able to share this information with others. My favorite portion of the

podcast was the introduction because I was able to add my thoughts on the conversation into my

script. I am glad I was able to include this because it was important for me to convey that there is

not enough information out there to properly support students with learning disabilities.
 Creating my genre translation was difficult because I felt like I did not have a lot of

similar references. I did my best with other mental health support advertisements, but none of

them were advertising with Pokémon, or they did not include the information my advertisement

needed. This meant that I had to make a lot of creative decisions during the creation process. At

first, I found this difficult because I did not have as much of a guide to go off of. Eventually, I

realized that this was not a limitation but an opportunity for me to create something interesting

and exciting. Once I got comfortable being creative with my translation the process became more

fun and I was able to produce better work. When I was creating the podcast script, it was difficult

to include all the necessary information while also making the conversation flow nicely. This can

be observed in my first draft where I did not fully explain what each accommodation was. This

was because it was hard to translate the conversation into something easy to understand. To make

the conversation more personable, I decided to record the podcast so the characters would have a

personality behind them.

Writing in a new genre taught me how to use my previous knowledge to inform my

current projects. For example, I wrote down everything that I could remember seeing in the type

of advertisement I was trying to create before I began my project. This helped me know what I

was looking for when it came to searching for references. This project also helped me become

more confident in writing in an unfamiliar genre. Bunn’s piece on “How To Read Like a Writer”

helped me with this because it made me think about what the authors of my references were

trying to say, and if I wanted to say the same thing with my translation. While translating the

article into my chosen genre, I learned about the importance of having a target audience when

creating an advertisement. At first, I was having difficulties with who I was going to share this

information with. Since I did not know who I was trying to reach, I had no clue where to go with
my project. Once I was able to determine my audience, it was much easier for me to make design

decisions.

The research experience for my second project was difficult because I had never done

research like this before. I had no idea where to start when it came to looking for articles that

were relevant to my topic. After learning how to navigate databases such as comppile, this

process became easier. For my topic, there is a general lack of research and references I could

find. Luckily, I was able to find sources that I could use, but I did have to modify my topic for it

to work. Even though I was able to find relevant sources, I still had trouble navigating through

the articles to find the information I needed for my script. After creating rhetorical précises for

my sources, I was able to get a better understanding of each source and how they would all tie

into the final product. Although this project was tedious and difficult, I will be able to take what I

learned from this to write stronger research papers as I advance in my academic career.

The scholarly conversation I created is important to me because of my connection to

writing with a learning disability. I was finally diagnosed with ADHD this quarter, so I was not

receiving academic support for a learning disability that I did not know I had. When I did learn

that I had this disability, I still felt stuck because I was still struggling to find ways to make

writing easier. I was hoping to create a conversation that students could use to improve their

writing, but I unfortunately found there is a lack of research-based methods for these students to

learn. Even though I was unable to find exactly what I was looking for, I still feel like the

conversation I created is important because it emphasizes that there is a need for support for

these students and the ones that are currently in place are inadequate. I believe that

improvements in support for students with disabilities will lead to an overall advancement in

higher education.
 Throughout this class, my approach to thinking reading, and writing evolved class,

because I learned that not everything has to be perfect. Previously I would get stuck on trying to

get everything right the first time. This would make me feel overwhelmed and cause me to put

off important assignments. During this course, I learned about how to properly revise my work

which made me feel less pressure to get things perfect. I also benefited from learning about the

importance of peer review because I previously underestimated the importance of feedback from

my peers. Once I began to seek out feedback, I was able to produce even better work than what I

had initially imagined.

I had a negative perspective on writing because I struggled with it. I decided to become a

STEM major because I disliked writing so much. I have since learned that I will never escape

writing, and instead of dwelling on my weaknesses, I looked at my strengths and how they could

help me throughout the writing process. I used to have a hard time organizing my thoughts. This

was because I have always struggled with abstract thinking, and using my imagination. By the

end of this course, I gained my confidence as a writer back by learning skills that help make the

writing process less difficult for me. such as being able to identify rhetorical moves identify my

target audience, and think about what I want to say.

Writing 2 helped me learn the skills I needed to be a more confident writer. I was not as

confident previously because I did not know what worked for me. I had been searching for

specific guidelines to follow that would help me write. Now I know that being too timid

inhibited my writing and was holding me back from creating the best work I could. I learned this

from the course readings, which shared different strategies writers can use to improve their

writing. An example of this is using first and second-order thinking as not only a way to generate

ideas but as a way to enhance my work. This is because I learned that thinking happens during
writing and I do not need to know exactly what I want to say the first time. Just starting will help

me reach my end goal. A strategy I learned that helped me do this is creating a trash draft. This

allowed me to get a general idea of where I wanted to go, and then use it to further my thinking. I

still struggle with starting the writing process, but this has made it significantly easier for me to

develop and implement my ideas in my work.

In the future, I will take what I have learned about research and revision to help me

succeed in future classes. Since I am a Pre-Biology major, this may look like using the library

databases to find sources to back up the scientific presentations I create. I also have more writing

courses that I need to take in the future. Using what I learned about revision and peer review will

help me go into future writing assignments with more confidence that I can produce quality

work.