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‭Bibek Malik‬

‭Mr. Powers‬

‭English 1302‬

‭8 April 2024‬

‭Reflection Essay 3‬

‭After finishing my third essay, there was a lot that I learned about academic research. The‬

‭third essay I wrote was a position paper, and my topic was the impact that social media has on‬

‭mental health. I was supposed to build an argument using 6 of the 10 sources that I had gathered‬

‭from my annotated bibliography and further explored in my research analysis essay. To my best‬

‭ability, I came up with a logical stance on this topic, which if done correctly, could have the‬

‭potential to positively impact the future generation by allowing them to not be addicted to social‬

‭media and making sure there are measures set in place to prevent social media from impacting‬

‭their mental health. I will definitely be able to apply the knowledge I gained from writing this‬

‭essay to future courses. For example, let’s say there is a history class I am taking that requires me‬

‭to argue and pick a side on a famous historical debate. I can now use my knowledge of how to‬

‭write a position paper to help better formulate an opinion of my own. Another example I can‬

‭think of that actually happened this semester was in my UNIV 1302 class, in which me and my‬

‭group were tasked with choosing a social topic and making a game that would bring awareness‬

‭to that topic. The topic that my group had chosen was fear of failure, so we all researched‬

‭different peer-reviewed articles to try and see what we could learn from these different‬

‭perspectives. We were able to read all of these articles and together come up with a consensus‬

‭position about our stance on fear of failure, and we were able to create and present a game about‬

‭that topic to further promote awareness to our cause. In both my UNIV course and my third‬
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‭writing assignment, I was able to research different peer-reviewed articles, have my own position‬

‭on the topics that I researched, and provide a solution that promotes positivity/brings awareness‬

‭throughout the community.‬

‭I obtained various skills in the process of writing the research analysis essay. One skill I‬

‭learned was how to truly understand the point that multiple authors are trying to make, and how‬

‭to mark down both the similarities and the differences between the two. This was helpful, as I‬

‭ended up reusing some of the researcher’s claims that I had stated in that second essay and‬

‭implementing them into my third essay.‬

‭I will say the most challenging part of this third writing assignment for me was probably‬

‭the word count. When I first saw the word count of at least 1500 words, I was freaking out‬

‭because I was thinking to myself that there would be no way that I would be able to meet that‬

‭number. However, after writing the essay, I saw that it turned out to be much less of a problem‬

‭than I originally thought it to be, as I had reached somewhere around 1800 words. This also goes‬

‭to show me that I should not freak out when I am faced with a new challenge because I know I‬

‭can tackle it as long as I remain calm and put my mind to it. The least challenging part of this‬

‭third writing assignment for me was choosing a side/position. In the topic of how social media‬

‭impacts mental health, it is commonly noted that stakeholders need to step up and make some‬

‭changes in this ongoing issue in our society. I chose a position in what I believe is right, which is‬

‭that using all the collected research that is available to us, we should be able to prevent social‬

‭media negatively impacting individuals, and instead make it a positive environment where‬

‭people can go and see how their best friend chose to celebrate their birthday, or what their cousin‬

‭living across the world is doing. As of right now, it is seemingly a toxic and additive place, with‬

‭apps like TikTok ruining the generation by having kids constantly swiping trying to find funny‬
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‭videos or trendy dance moves. These kids see celebrities flexing their cars and watches on‬

‭Instagram, and start feeling jealous of the current situation they are living in. While I also don’t‬

‭think the solution is to outright ban these apps, I think our society should be able to come up with‬

‭a fair situation to turn these harmful situations into a positive outcome.‬