Dear

Reader,

As the semester is coming to a close I am taking the time to reflect on all the
assignments I have done during University Writing 1103. This class was filled with
different assignments, some of which I enjoyed and others that I didnt care for as
much. I will be writing about the daybook entries we completed as well as blog
entries, and the peer reviewing process. I will also speak about the bigger
assignments we completed such as the Literacy Narrative, Topic Proposal,
Annotated Bibliography, First EIP Draft, Final EIP Draft and ePortfolio, as well as
incorporating my strengths and weaknesses in writing and how they shifted
throughout the semester. I hope you enjoy.
Each class for UWRT 1103 started with a Daybook entry. This was a way to
get us into the hang of writing right from the very beginning of class. I enjoyed
keeping a Daybook, though I wish we had more opportunities to free write. As you
look through my ePortfolio youll see some of my Daybook entries. All of my entries
were pretty short and to the point as I dont like to dwell on topics, I think that for
me is a strength and a weakness. My to-the-point writing is good for short essays,
but when Im tasked with writing long detailed papers I tend to struggle.
Another assignment we were tasked with this semester was keeping a blog. I
actually have my own blog but mine is much different than the one we kept for this
class. My personal blog is filled mainly with pictures and the occasional quote;
however the one we kept for this class was all responses to prompts. I did not enjoy
the blogging process like I first assumed I would, like I wrote before I enjoy free

writing more than I do writing in response to prompts. Once again, my blog posts
are proof of my short and sweet style of writing.
The peer reviewing process for this class I think was kind of helpful, but then
again Im the kind of person who doesnt listen to other peoples suggestions. I feel
as though when I give feedback its very suggestive, as it should be, and my only
hope is that the people in my peer review group found my input to be helpful.
The first big writing assignment we had to do was the literacy narrative. I
chose to write mine on my life as a writer. Writing had always been a big part of
my life and now that Im older its sad that I dont enjoy it like I once did. Your big
critique for this assignment was that I didnt add enough detail; this comment all
goes back to my habit of writing simple, to-the-point papers, which Im working on
changing. I wrote a brief explanation in my ePortfolio on why I didnt change my
literacy narrative. I actually look forward to finding the books I talked about in my
literacy narrative and reading through them, maybe even finishing that last one I
was writing and never was able to finish. I think writing the literacy narrative gave
me some nostalgia to my past days where I would sit in my room and write all day.
This assignment for me was quite enjoyable, and arguably the one I liked the most.
The next assignment we did was the Topic Proposal for our Extended Inquiry
Project. Im going to start out by saying I had a very hard time writing this. Overall I
just have difficulties expanding on my topic and the toughest section for me was the
Next Steps section because I didnt have a set plan for my research. Honestly, it was
harder than I thought it would be to find good credible research on meditation.

Reflecting back on this I believe that if I had done better research from the start then
I would have had an easier time doing my Extended Inquiry Project.
In high school we had to do a couple of Annotated Bibliographies, and I
dreaded them. This was pretty much the case with the Annotated Bibliography we
had to do. I get the point of doing an Annotated Bibliography and I realize that they
help aid in final writing process but I really did not enjoy doing it. Elaborating on
concepts really is not my strong point and I believe it showed within my Annotated
Bibliography. I struggled with the evaluation and usefulness sections of this
assignment. But nevertheless my Annotated Bibliography was very useful when I
did my EIP.
The process of my first EIP draft was awful. I actually started writing a paper,
but the wonderful technology that is my MacBook decided to not save my work. I
myself am a horrible procrastinator, I could have a year to do an assignment and I
would still wait the day before to start it. This really screwed me in end with my first
EIP draft, when I went to finish the paper, which I had actually started a while
before; it was nowhere to be found. So I decided to do a website. My end product
was really something I wasnt proud of, but Im not the type to make excuses
because it was my fault. I took the bad grade and moved on.
The process of my final EIP was not awful because I learned my lesson. I
allotted more time to work on it and it came together much better. I still struggled
with finding research, but I tried to provide more of my own input and ideas on the
information I presented. I think overall I learned a great lesson on time
management. I hope it sticks.

The ePortfolio process was something that wasnt as bad as I thought it

would be; once again I think it has to do with my time management. The assigned
library days really made all the difference this time because I did my best to use this
time to my absolute advantage. It was nice reviewing all my previous works and
seeing how everything came together. The hardest part for me was the brief
commentary for the daybook entries. I struggled with that way more than I should,
but I managed to crank out some very, very brief commentary. My favorite part of
the ePortfolio was probably just the whole process on compiling all my work in one
place and presenting it in a nice professional manner. Ive really got the hang of
using Weebly, which actually isnt that user friendly. The ePortfolio was my favorite
thing weve done this semester, which is funny to me considering how much work it
was.
Overall I enjoyed University Writing 1103, even though I did complain often
to my friends about how much work it was I think it really pushed me out of my
comfort zone. I think the work we did was just the right amount to force us to be
better as individuals and writers. For me especially, its helped my dislike for
writing in a way that Im able to do assignments that include research without
wanting to claw my eyes out. Im very thankful to have had you as a professor. You
dont sugar coat things, and you feedback on my work was genuine and what I
needed to hear. As the semester is coming to a close I hope that the skills I learned
from this class will stay with me, and the lessons I learned have a lasting impression.
Thank You,
Daejah Atkinson