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Dear Reader,

My UWRT 1104 experience has been a lot better than expected, to say the least. My

portfolio consists of many blog assignments, an annotated bibliography, a topic proposal, a few

rough drafts, and more assignments that I have completed over the semester. Along with each of

these assignments is lots of time, hard work, and probably even a few tears. I had one of the most

helpful teachers who was always full of feedback on how I could improve upon each of these

assignments and what I can change about my style of writing that can make me a better writer.

Professor Campbell was a helpful guide throughout the critical thinking and learning process, for

that I am very thankful.

The big assignments completed throughout the semester were the Annotated

Bibliography, the Topic Proposal, and the Rough Draft as well as the final submission of our

Extended Inquiry Project. Alongside these bigger assignments also came the smaller, equally

important assignments, such as the daybook writings. Daybook writings were the most beneficial

to me because they allowed me to write my thoughts about the prompt down in a judgement-free

zone. Yes, I knew eventually that five of them had to be included in my e-Portfolio website but,

from the moment I wrote each one, I knew whether or not it would be included. Daybook

writings occurred every class we had in the classroom, and then we could choose to talk about

them with the class which allowed us the time to see what everyone else was thinking about an

upcoming assignment. For example, the daybook prompt “I remember…” stuck out to me the

most because being away from home makes me nostalgic of my childhood and the memories it

holds. This specific prompt quickly grew to become my favorite as it brought back more

memories the more, I continued to write. I opened up and became vulnerable to the fact that I

miss my family more than I thought I did as well as how times used to be.
Another beneficial part of UWRT 1104 for me this semester was the studios. The studios

were another part of this class that allowed me to reflect on an assigned article or helped me gain

perspective on how to write effectively when it came down to my final EIP submission. My

favorite studio was studio two. Studio two was designed to where we had to look at different e-

portfolios that were submissions of previous students and give our feedback in our daybook. This

studio is when I thought about how I wanted my website to look. During this studio, I realized

that I didn’t like some of the bold colors, crazy fonts, or any added media. I felt that it made the

screen too busy for the reader and the reader couldn’t just enjoy the work that the student had

produced. It was the main driving factor when I picked my theme and the photo on each of my

pages. I like a simple, clean look with a little bit of color to it, hence why I used the same image

for each of my pages. Each of my assignments are easily accessible and they are all symmetrical

on the page.

At the beginning of the semester, I was very intimidated by the sounds of the EIP, but

professor Campbell did a fantastic job of spacing out the assignments and planning the studios to

help us with the larger assignments that were part of the EIP. The first part of the EIP was the

topic proposal. I felt very challenged but, with the help of a few assignments in class, I had

quickly become more confident about tackling the project. At this time, we had done a few

exercises in class, including daybook entries, that guided us towards choosing our topic. One of

the most beneficial resources professor Campbell set up for us was the library workshop. I found

this most beneficial to me because it showed me how to narrow my search down by keywords to

find the information most useful to my EIP. Not only were we taught how to use the library’s

resource page, we were also shown how to access a bunch of other online databases that are full
of great resources for us to use. This is how I found most of the information that I used in my

EIP.

After a part of the EIP was finished, my group would send each other our assignments

and we would then peer-review them. Peer-reviewing is another really beneficial part to any

assignment. First, I could write it and then edit what I thought I needed to fix. Secondly, I could

turn it in to my peers and get their feedback on what I needed to work on and then edit that into

my paper. Finally, I would submit my paper into professor Campbell and then get his feedback

on it. The more eyes that go over an assignment, the better my assignment is going to be. I

enjoyed seeing what other people had to say about my writing. These comments are then used

when editing and revising the assignment. The most important assignment that I went through

this process with was the Rough Draft. Knowing that I had a chance to correct everything I could

to make my final draft that much better really pushed me to revise it multiple times before being

happy with it.

The most important part of the course was the final submission of my EIP. It was the

most important assignment to me because it pushed me to take time to research something that I

am passionate about. It taught me to expand my knowledge and to be open to other research that

supports my claim. I found this challenging because I kept feeling redundant with the

information I was talking about. I realized my paper needed a breakthrough and I needed more

information to use to make my paper more interesting to keep my readers interested in the

assignment. Through lots more research and time, I drafted a paper that I felt was less redundant,

and more effective. Having a more effective paper would allow my audience to feel more

connected to me and what I had to talk about. It made me realize that if I could get someone who

doesn’t know much about my topic to care about it, then I was helping someone else learn
something new. Learning new information was definitely a learning stretch for me because I

chose a topic, I felt I knew a decent amount in, only to dig into research and realize that there

was so much more I had to learn.

One of the Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s) that I think I handled the best was

critical thinking. I learned how to take more time to think deliberately and more effectively to

improve upon my writing. As a writer, a student, and an individual, I have grown in many ways.

I think that through taking UWRT 1104, my writing and communication skills have grown. I am

a more professional writer and I know my writing will never be perfect but by proof-reading I

have noticed many more careless errors than I used to. This is going to benefit me greatly as I

continue to work towards a degree in civil engineering. As a student, I know how to ask the types

of questions that are going to lead me to the answers I want. My thinking has developed because

I have taken the time to think more deliberately which has enabled me to become a better, well-

rounded student and individual.

UWRT 1104 has challenged my work-ethics by ensuring I don’t procrastinate, challenged

my fix-minded brain to think outside of the box, and to take the constructive criticism as

constructive, and forced me to take more time to think and reflect on future assignments. I have

enjoyed this class more than I initially thought I would, and I am thankful for the friendships I

have also made in the class. With the help of these people I have overcome academic challenges

and grown in so many ways. I am a better student, writer, and person because of the challenges I

have faced and worked through this past semester and I will take these lessons with me

throughout the rest of my life.

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