A Week of Reflections

Wow! It's already the end of week 5. I'm halfway done with the spring quarter. I can't believe my freshman year of college is coming to an end.

This week in Writing 39C, we finally resumed writing class. After finishing the first draft of the Historical Conversations Project, we were placed into new groups depending on the topics of our papers. The members of our new groups, conveniently, would also be our peer partners where we would peer review each other's HCP draft. We are also assigned as a group to work on a group advocacy project, in which we would have to come up with an advocacy topic and brainstorm ways to use social media to promote our issues.

But enough of what we did in class and what we are assigned to do. I want to talk about my Writing 39C journey thus far. Now currently at the halfway point of this journey, I want to reflect on how I've changed from the beginning of the quarter until now. I think one of the most significant things I've learned in this class, with applicable uses outside of class, is learning how to navigate library and science databases. Before this class, my knowledge of knowing how to search up credible academic sources was limited to Google. Even with Google, I had no idea how to use certain commands to narrow down my search. However, after learning how to navigate databases, I found out I had access to numerous scientific journals and papers that were limited to me on Google unless I paid a ridiculous amount of money just to read the article. I believe that learning how to navigate the school's database will have significant impact on my future education and learning. I will no longer have to search on Google for hours just to find a relevant source I can use for my research. I now know how to search up sources I need in the most efficient way possible.

Another important skill I've learned so far in Writing 39C is being able to annotate sources. Through the homework assignment on Connect on skim reading, I've learned techniques to determine whether a source is worth my time and effort to read through. One of the most beneficial techniques I've learned when skim reading is to read the first and last lines of a paragraph. The first and last lines will summarize the main points of the paragraph and you can determine whether or not it is relevant to your topic. Another technique I learned was to do a brief research on the background of the source's author before reading the source. It is important to check the authors' credibility before reading the source to make sure that the author is experienced and has extensive knowledge of the topic.

The Writing 39C class thus far has also enhanced my Habit of Mind. A habit of mind is defined as ways of approaching learning that are both intellectual and practical and that will support students’ success in a variety of fields and disciplines. I feel that the HCP paper, specifically, has improved my persistence habit of mind. One of the issues I had starting the HCP paper was deciding on a topic to write about. When I first decided to write about research into animal phenomenon, I knew that it would be a difficult topic because it's so different from topics other students have chosen. Yet, despite the difficulties, I persisted and kept with my topic of interest, through my difficulties of narrowing my topic, and through the difficulties of understanding scientific research papers and terminology, I managed to create a HCP paper. The class has also improved my responsibility habit of mind. After deciding to procrastinate the HCP paper until Sunday night last week, I paid for my mistakes and lazy work habits with the lack of sleep. Because of my actions, I had trouble staying awake in class or pretty much staying awake in general the next day. I'm pretty sure writing the essay at 4 am in the morning also affected my cognitive and writing abilities, resulting in a paper accurately reflects my lack of effort and alertness. Lastly, group work in the class has also enhanced my openness and flexibility habits of mind. Having to work with other people required me to be accepting of others' opinions and ideas and be able to take criticism. I've learned to collaborate well with other people and be able to adjust to the demands and necessities of the group.