This sure has been an interesting semester.

I’m not just talking about the pandemic and our

response to it either. RC 2001 has made me more of a methodical thinker when it comes to
writing. I noticed it when I wrote a research paper for another class. I collected all of my
research, organized it in the order that I needed, and then wrote my argument around my
research. It certainly filled up the 12 pages quickly. I think I will continue to write that way as it
served me well and I could actually keep my thoughts organized. I have always been someone
who writes out their thought process as it comes to them. Often, if I am walking somewhere and
thinking about a paper I have to write or have in the works, sentences will appear in my head and
I will continue to refine them until I fit it into that paper. I am constantly trying to formulate
words and sentences in my head to make myself sound smarter when writing but also keep it
within my thought process about the paper. I think the biggest challenges that I faced this
semester was to keep the level of motivation that I had before Spring Break, after Spring Break. I
found it difficult to organize my thoughts clearly when I had ten other things going on around
me. I worked through it and came up with a systematic approach to how I did my work that
saved me from going insane. My writing process only changed when I started thinking more
critically about how I word sentences and what approach I am going to take for the work. I
certainly revise my work more. That is what I like most about university writing classes, because
you write so many drafts that you can truly formulate your ideas clearly and create a cohesive
paper that has been revised multiple times before you even reach the final draft. I can’t really
remember what goals I had for my writing at the beginning of the semester because that was long
ago and we were hit with a pandemic halfway through so it really messed with my thinking. All I
know is that I wanted to write more clearly and create more cohesive projects and I feel like I
have done just that. I have definitely come out of my shell when it comes to my writing and as a
person. I feel like two completely different people when each semester begins. At least this year I
did. I have no clue what happened over winter break that caused me to come back feeling like a
different person, but I am glad I could come back out of my shell even if it was for a short while.
I know I will have to write more in the future for other classes because my major sort of depends
on it, but hopefully I can continue growing my writing process and produce more methodical and
thought provoking work. I am hoping that one day I can really impress my professors with how
eloquently I write and how I think about certain topics. I just know that I need to keep learning
and gain more understanding. I plan to keep working on my writing technique to increase my
future success.