To whom it may concern, 

Writing is an essential skill that is utilized in various aspects of life, most prominently, school and work. My writing has undoubtedly improved since the first essay I wrote in September. During my time in this course, I have advanced my writing skills and learned new concepts that I can apply to other classes during my time at SUNY New Paltz. The most essential thing I took away from the course was learning how to properly cite my work. Before entering college, this had always been a struggle of mine. However, through the various workshops and lessons from Professor Hero, I gained a larger understanding. This allowed me to easily and successfully cite the works that I use when writing an essay. This skill is important because it can be applied to the other classes that I take. Many courses, aside from English, require an extensive amount of writing, therefore, understanding how to cite your work is important. For example, in my economics class I had to write a paper on an unfamiliar topic, therefore an extensive amount of research was needed. Consequently, I applied the skills of citing that I learned in this course to another course that I was enrolled in. Prior to entering college, I had only used MLA format a few times when writing research papers, therefore, I did not have a clear understanding of it. After taking this course,  I now know how to create a proper heading and correctly cite my work using the MLA format. 

Before entering college, I had written a few research papers throughout high school. However, this course allowed me to develop and improve my skills when writing a research paper. Finding reliable sources has always been a struggle of mine. However, during this course we did a workshop with one of the librarians. She showed us how to find sources in the library and on various databases. This allowed me to easily find reliable sources when conducting research. I now use the library databases when conducting research for all of my classes. In addition, I learned new skills and concepts to apply when writing research papers. Rather than just insert a multitude of lengthy quotes into my writing, I learned how to incorporate my writing and ideas with the research I had done. This allowed me to think more for my own, rather than relying on the opinions and ideas of those I researched. I undoubtedly developed more critical thinking skills through writing research essays. 

In addition, I developed my public speaking skills through having to present my ideas to a large group of people. For our research on climate change, we each had to do an oral presentation. Before entering college, most of my presentations were done through reading off of a PowerPoint. This method of presenting does not keep the audience engaged and may even be distracting. Professor Hero prepared us to give our speeches through various lessons. I learned to have an attention grabber when first introducing my topic. It is essential to make your argument clear and concise for the audience to understand what you are trying to prove. It is important to present key ideas and back them up with evidence. This is undoubtedly a skill I will be able to use in various other classes. Many courses require you to present projects and assignments to the class. I will use the public speaking skills learned in this course and apply them to all of my courses. 

I genuinely enjoyed the writing assignments given by Professor Hero. The topics were engaging and interesting to research. Allowing us more freedom to choose our topics with both our synthesis and research papers, undoubtedly made the class more enjoyable. I have definitely become a stronger writer through taking this course. I have developed skills to allow me to successfully communicate and present my ideas to the reader and audience. I will apply the skills and concepts that I have learned throughout this course to all other courses that I will take in the future. 

 

Sincerely, 

Christina Burns