Nelson Morales

December 3, 2023
Professional Communication
Professor Sindelar

Reflection Essay

Throughout this semester, I have seen a huge improvement in my own writing skills. I learned
to write better formally, have better sentence structure when writing, use stronger vocabulary
and avoid repetition, become more detailed and specify more when writing about something,
and learned to have audience awareness along with applying clarity when writing to make sure
I get the best out of what I am writing about. Completing a lot of the course work and learning
from the power points provided on canvas throughout the semester taught me how to do many
of these things in writing that I never was able to pull through with or was able to do correctly.
Asking my professional communication instructor many questions also really benefited me
when writing, as I found out many new things and techniques to use when I am writing a
document or an assignment which was very beneficial for me. I am now more confident in my
writing skills and feel like I improved a ton throughout the semester when doing all these
several types of assignments.

My goal for this course was to learn things I have never been taught and try to utilize those new
things that I have learned for the assignments to make sure I am learning and understanding
those factors correctly. I met the goal by asking lots of questions, and the instructor was deeply
knowledgeable on many topics when instructing the students, especially myself, throughout
the semester. Some examples of things that I have learned and was able to utilize in some
assignments were learning how to draft professional emails and memos for a workplace setting
correctly and effectively. It was the workplace correspondence assignment, and since I never
worked anywhere and was never in such a setting before, this assignment was helpful by
making me learn how to do these things before I head off into a workplace setting. It made me
feel like I was getting a head start on something I would have to accomplish in the real world, so
it was great practice.

The assignment I am most proud of would have to be the white paper assignment. It was the
assignment I put the most effort and the most time into throughout the semester and it was
quite a challenge as well. I had to write about a problem in the world that correlated with my
reaktion book which was about water. I also had to make the topic I was writing about not a
broad problem, so something regarding all water on the planet for example would be a
problem that is extremely hard to solve and is too broad. I landed on the Ugandan water crisis,
which was a very narrowed down topic and something that can be solved if given enough time.
I learned the most out of this assignment and I never knew what a white paper was even before
I took on this assignment which made the task even harder. I had to ask a lot of questions, read
a lot, and look at quite a few examples, but I was able to get through the assignment, checking
off all the criteria I needed to do it correctly and effectively. If I could add any assignment to this
course, it would have something to do with being there in person, whether it is a presentation
or some type of pitching exercise. This would be good for something like a professional job in
the real world or a meeting. Regarding if I can edit any assignment in this course, it would be
the white paper assignment. I think narrowing it down to something related to a reaktion book
was very hard to do, especially if you do not want to have a broad topic, so how I would edit
this assignment is instead of using the reaktion book, you could use anything related to a real-
world problem but not something so broad. That way it is not heavily flexible but would not
make it so narrowed down to the point where it could be hard to write about.

In summary, this professional communication course has significantly improved my writing skills
and equipped me with skills and tools for effective communication. I have learned how to
create formal and detailed documents, consider my audience, and tackle real-world issues and
exercises through assignments like the constructing of the instructions for an organization, the
email and memo for a workplace, and the challenging white paper assignment. While I am
proud of the things I learned and the progress I have made throughout the semester, I think the
course could be enhanced by including in-person elements like presentations to simulate real
professional situations. Additionally, a small adjustment to the white paper assignment’s
specificity regarding a reaktion book topic could be changed to make it a little more flexible
without losing its educational value. Having a choice to choose anything rather than going off a
reaktion book topic could make it easier for choices regarding what to write about, but keeping
the idea of not choosing something broad should still be included in the assignment so it is
narrowed down to something more specific and a problem that is solvable. Throughout this
journey, I am sincerely grateful for my instructor, whose guidance, patience, and support have
been invaluable in helping me navigate the course successfully. Their willingness to answer
questions and share insights has greatly contributed to my learning experience, and overall, this
course has been transformative, boosting my confidence in writing and preparing me well for
future professional challenges and real-life situations.