1237 12th St.

N
Fargo, ND 58103

December 13, 2010

Department of English
North Dakota State University
NDSU, Dept. 2320
P.O. Box 6050
Fargo, ND 58108-6050

To The Portfolio Assessment Readers:

With the fall semester quickly coming to a close, I have been reflecting about my writing intensive
English class. This semester I have accomplished a variety of projects and assignments and have learned
a lot about professional writing. I learned how to write a great resume and how to use its different
formats. I have practiced writing many emails, business letters, transmittal letters, and cover letters.
My three largest projects that I completed were a job recommendation report, instructions on how to
make pumpkin cheesecake, and a brochure for my future cupcake business. All these projects have
helped me to master my communication skills which I will further reflect upon below. I have created a
portfolio in a blog format to post this reflection letter and my projects for your comments and
evaluation on my success.

The year started out with writing cover letters and resumes. I wrote both a designer and scannable
resume. I learned how to make my resume stand out and which format to use when. The next project I
have listed is my instructions and usability test. For this assignment, I worked in a group and together
wrote a set of instructions on how to make pumpkin cheesecake. We also tested our instructions
usability and followed up with our conclusions in a memo. Next is my personal project, I was assigned to
pick something of interest and propose a project that would take considerable planning. First I wrote a
proposal for my idea which included my idea, learning objectives, schedule, and rubric. In the end, I
decided to create a cupcake brochure for my potential business. Lastly, we had to write a
recommendation report to a client for potential career.

I think my personal project was my best work because I was able to be more creative and do something
that interested me. But I feel like every project could use a few revisions. On my cupcake brochure I
would like to edit some of the colors I used on the inside to match the tone on the outside. I would also
like to add more information about the company. For the recommendation report, I wish I had more
information. I did not enjoy working with the jobs my client chose and I feel like I could have done a
better job if there was more information available. I feel like I could have made better connections and
more strongly pointed out my recommendation. The resumes I wish I could also revise as I have
changed my major this semester and the current jobs are inaccurate. I would like to revise these
resumes as I near closer to graduation so I can find a good job. I would like to make stronger claims in
my cover letter. Overall most of the revisions I’d want to make would be in the information I am try to
convey.

In the syllabus, there is a list of outcomes that the class is intended to produce. I believe this class has
succeeded in helping me reach these goals. When writing my resume and cover letter, I completed
outcome #1 by communicating effectively my skills, personal qualities, objectives, goals, and convince
the reader to ‘pick me’. I also demonstrated this outcome with my instructions project, I was able to
clearly explain how to make pumpkin cheesecake and examine its usability. I addressed outcome #6 in
all my projects which states “integrate knowledge and ideas in a coherent and meaningful manner”. I
became knowledgeable about three different jobs and I was able to write in a coherent and organized
manner what I learned. I was able to communicate this information to my client by listening to their
needs and desires for a job and then meshing the sources together to complete a final recommendation.
The next outcome was to “manage sophisticated writing and research projects, planning, documenting,
completing, and assessing work on time and within the constraints of the project”. I completed this
objective with all my projects, but most specifically my personal project. I had to specifically plan out a
schedule of what I would do each week in order to complete my project by its’ due date. I also had to
show my ability of professionalism which includes skills like reliability and care in editing. I attended all
my group meetings and finished the assignments on time. I carefully edited all my work and did my best
to treat every project as if I was already working on a real job. Overall, I mastered the basic knowledge
of business writing in the professional world by demonstrating each of the listed outcomes.

I hope this letter and my showcase of documents have proven to you that I possess professional writing
skills. As I look back, I feel this class was very meaningful and taught me a lot about writing in the
business world. I will carry these skills with me throughout the rest of my life and I hope you can see my
knowledge I have gained throughout my work. Thank you for your time in reading this letter. I
appreciate all of your comments or thoughts.

Sincerely,

Chelsea Roehl
Chelsea Roehl