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Kevin Baker
Dr. Cutrufello
5/10/16
Senior Seminar in Professional Writing
Self-Reflection
Through my coursework as a Professional Writing major, I have developed many new
skills as a writer. The most important development, to me, is that I learned how to write in a
large variety of genres and disciplines. Through the pieces in the portfolio, I chose to show as
varied of skills as possible, including writing research, creative writing, journalistic writing, and
writing with visuals. These are relevant to the professors in the writing program because it shows
how successful the program has been for me. These writing pieces are also important because
they show many of the different skills that the Professional Writing program has taught me.
Although I was required to include my qualitative research study in my portfolio, that is
the piece that I am the most proud of from my coursework in Professional Writing. I am most
proud of it because it was the most work, but also because I decided to study a topic that was not
discussed at all in any existing scholarship. It is important for my professors to see for a few
reasons. It introduces them to a new area of scholarship, but it also shows that I have skills in
conducting qualitative research studies and writing research essays in a standard IMRAD format.
This piece of work represents me as a writer because I am someone who looks to answer the
questions that I actually have and to start looking at subjects that are not often discussed. I really
like my qualitative research paper because it represents me as a writer, a person, and a student.
For my creative writing piece, I chose to use work from my Introduction to Creative
Writing course from this semester. I am using the piece that I have spent the most time on,
which I also used for the in-class workshops. It is a piece that imitates the style and formatting of
another story, which was part of the assignment. However, the plotline and the characters are my

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own, and I really like the story. I think it is important for my professors to see this story because
it shows that I am comfortable writing creatively, and that I am confortable writing fiction. Also,
I workshopped this piece in class, and I revised the story by responding to the peer feedback.
This piece represents me as a writer because it is creative, but also dark and creepy, which is the
kind of creative writing that I like to do. I have always found that I am drawn to these types of
stories, and so I enjoyed having the chance to write one myself.
For my professional document, I chose to use a journalistic piece that I wrote during my
internship wit YC Magazine. I chose to use a feature article about how students at York College
are becoming part of the conversation about social justice movements, like Size Acceptance.
This is my favorite piece that I wrote during this internship because I feel like it has real-world
value beyond York College of Pennsylvania. This piece is appropriate for my professors because
it shows them that I can write on a controversial topic while maintaining a non-controversial tone
and standpoint. It also shows that I can work with a new style, since this internship was the first
time I worked with the AP Style Guide. This piece represents me as a writer because it is talking
about a topic that I care deeply about, Size Acceptance, in a way that is actually noncontroversial. I feel that it is very important to write about topics that are important to me, as the
writer.
For my document with visuals, I chose to use an application demonstration from my
Digital Writing class. I chose to use this because it is a practical text; it is instructions for how to
use an application of Wix, and it includes screenshots for reference. The piece is appropriate for
my professors because it shows my skills as a technical communicator. This piece represents me
as a writer because I am very comfortable incorporating visuals into my texts. I also built the

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website that is in some of the screenshots, which shows my comfort ability with web design and
digital writing.
Out of these four documents, which are somewhat representative of my coursework in the
Professional Writing major, there are some themes that emerge. One is my organizational skills
within writing. In the professional piece, the visual piece, the qualitative essay, and the creative
writing story each show a different specific organizational strength. The qualitative research used
a traditional IMRAD organization, the creative writing used a plotline organization, and the
visual piece used instructional organization with images.
Another trend in these pieces of work is the wide range of genres that I am comfortable
writing after my coursework in Professional Writing. I am comfortable with business writing,
creative writing, technical writing, research writing, and journalistic writing just because of the
pieces in this portfolio. There are more genres, still, that I am comfortable in, but have not
presented in this portfolio. This is one of the skills that I am most proud of coming out of the
Professional Writing major at York College of Pennsylvania. In, in the future, an employer or
potential internship advisor asks if I have experience with a particular type of writing, the odds
are that I will have written something like it during my coursework at York College.
In the future, I will be going to graduate school to study publishing, and these writing
skills will follow me into this program. I will have classes in disciplines like editing, designing,
business, legal studies, and more, and I will be prepared to write in these genres because I have
experienced most of them at York College. The skills that I have gained through this program are
incredible and diverse. Not only does this help me feel confident in my writing abilities, but it
also helps me to market myself. When I state, in resume or interview form, that I have
experience with writing in all these genres and experience with many different programs, like the

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Adobe Creative Suite, it makes me look appealing to that person. Ultimately, my work in the
Professional Writing major has set me up for success in my future career.1