A letter to the reader:

The purpose of this portfolio is to demonstrate the development of my drafting skills in various
genres. It is my hope that the reader finds my included work both thought provoking and
intellectually sound. Moreover, another goal for this portfolio is to encourage the reader to
showcase their own work in a similar medium. An online portfolio has unmatched shareability,
and I feel that nearly everyone has something they would like to showcase. People deserve to be
proud of their hard work and the time they sank into it.

The intended audience of this portfolio is rather broad. Of course the most central figure inside
my intended audience is my instructor, but I do hope that my peers also view my completed
portfolio. They have had access to it as it has grown from a simple website to much more. I have
not yet had the opportunity to view some of my peers’ portfolios, but I will definitely do so in the
immediate future. I hope that my interest in their portfolios is eventually reciprocated. My
intended audience is not strictly limited to the members of this course, though. I will likely share
this portfolio with a few friends or family members. Once again, a portfolio in this format is
highly shareable and I plan to take full advantage of that. I am proud of the time and effort I put
into this course and into this portfolio specifically.

The contents of this portfolio were all carried out through a meticulous process. Each assignment
required planning, drafting, and repeating revisions. Before any of that could happen, though, I
needed to select an area of emphasis or focus. Being an engineering student myself, I naturally
chose to focus my project on engineering education. There was an initial struggle with this topic
selection however. It was initially and unfortunately difficult to find anything other than
academic articles about engineering education. Engineering is generally regarded as a very
involved and complex discipline, so many of my initial queries were strictly academic articles.

As is the case with almost any course, the feedback and general encouragement provided to me
by my peers was invaluable. Having a support network, especially in a purely electronic
environment, is not only extremely helpful but is also necessary. It is notably more difficult to
revise a paper on your own than with help from your peers. Of course not all feedback is helpful
feedback, but I would still say that any feedback is better than none.
In terms of helpful class activities, I was most appreciative of the opportunities to interact with
my peers. I feel that missing out on the social aspect of class made me much more aware of how
much I enjoy forming bonds through classes and classwork. I would have been more than open
to having additional collaborative opportunities. Creating friendships is not an emphasized part
of a post-secondary education, but I would argue that it is a necessary aspect.

My biggest takeaway from this course is that I can bounce back from failure. Perhaps it is ironic
that my biggest learning outcome was not a direct result of my coursework, but I feel that this is
a crucial takeaway regardless. I needed to be accepting of my failure in order to ensure that I
learned from it. Failure does not define an individual, but rather allows an individual to pursue
greatness. It is greatness indeed that I will pursue.

I hope the reader enjoys being a part of this pursuit.

Yours sincerely,

Elian Alvarez
Aerospace Engineering | Undergraduate
The University of Arizona | Class of 2025