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Dear ePortfolio Reader,

Hello once again! While looking through my ePortfolio, I can see that there is so much to reflect upon. I believe that I have a better understanding of the world of writing, and I have developed into a fine writer that will absolutely help me in my future studies.

Thanks to this class, one skill I have learned is how to annotate a paper properly. In class, we would have to read a paper or an article, annotate it and then present it to the class. This class taught me what to exactly look for when annotating, without highlighting too much either. As a STEM major, you wouldn’t typically associate writing skills with my career path. However, this is definitely not the case as being a proficient writer is crucial in being successful in my career path. As a student in the accelerated BS/DO program, I am enrolled in a pre-osteopathic seminar. In this seminar, we read journal articles and present them to the class. I was able to thoroughly annotate my article and find the key details, which allowed me to help my classmates understand the article too.

I also learned to create a recorded informative video as well. Although it took me many tries to get used to the platform, I enjoyed the process. It was a new and exciting way to talk about a topic I am passionate about and hopefully, I get more chances to utilize it in the future. Especially in the world we live in now, it is important to improve my ability to relay information across all types of platforms, especially through the Internet. Another valuable skill I learned while doing this, is to create closed captions. Everyone should be able to understand information properly, whether it is in different ways.  I want to be able to reach people and make an impact on them and this course has greatly increased my understanding of how to do just that.

Regarding our main course assignments, not only did I enjoy working on the formal research paper, but my research skills have significantly improved. I did begin the class with some knowledge about the research process, but this assignment solidified it. I learned how to find the right online resources and writing strategies that would persuade my audience. Before this class, persuasive essays weren’t my best piece of work. Not to mention, it also improved my critical thinking and reading skills. This assignment made me analyze many articles thoroughly and piece the right information together, which would help me write an effective essay. This would also help me in the future since I would have to do my own research in medical school.

I now consider researching one of my strengths. Not only that, but I believe I have mastered the skill of creating an informative video. I definitely think that these two strengths will immensely help me in the future. On the other hand, I believe a weakness of mine is that I forget to organize my essay. Sometimes there would be pieces of information that don’t belong in a specific paragraph. Luckily, it always gets cleared up when I proofread my rough draft!

Thank you for reading and for looking at my ePortfolio!

Sincerely,

Ashlyn Scaria