Reflection #1 of the Quarter

Learning how to write is at the core of our education, but everyone does it differently. What I learned in my earlier years was to write in concise sentences and avoid fillers. When writing a traditional essay I first think of a hook to start out my paper, followed by my thesis and hint at what I will be talking about. Then I loosely outline the major points I want to make, separate them into three body paragraphs, and discuss my evidence for each point. I also address my own perspective and refute any counter arguments I can think of to solidify my points. In the end I finish with a conclusion of my argument, basically repeating my arguments, summarizing my thesis. This is the type of writing I have the most experience with.

While I believe that my writing style and skills could use improvement, I have never been motivated to actually expand on this since I have always done great academically. I took classes in high school such as AP English Language and Composition and AP United States History that are heavily reliant on writing and analysis, and I successfully passed their AP tests with 5's. However, I am very open to being able to write at a higher and more complex level.

Ever since the pandemic started, it has been both a blessing and a curse in terms of my educational experience. I really appreciate how flexible my time is, I started a job just after highschool to earn some of my own money and since online classes are more lenient with assignments and asynchronous I don’t feel stressed balancing school and work. On the other hand, it is very difficult for me to stay motivated to attend classes or watch lecture recordings. It’s so easy to procrastinate and there is not a lot of pressure to attend virtual classes. I know that I shouldn't but I let the work pile up until the last minute.

Writing is definitely a great way to express my thoughts about everything, so I really appreciate this exercise. Me and my family recently tested positive for covid-19 and were quarantined the whole break. It was really upsetting not doing anything for christmas or new years. Especially being sick a lot of that time and with the combination of the current state of US politics, it has been a pretty bad year. Covid doesn’t affect everyone equally, me and my sister pretty much recovered instantly as if it were a minor cold. However, my mother and grandmother really worried my family since they got it the worst out of all of us. Thankfully they are doing much better now.

But the worry about their health was not good for me. I can always remain positive, but I can’t always stop thinking about the worst that could happen. I knew covid was serious but it never really hits you until you or someone you love has it. The fear of losing them, and the anger. So many treat it like a joke and refuse to wear masks and continue to go out and see a bunch of people despite all the recommendations against it. It is necessary to leave our homes every once in a while but some people are just engaging in risky behavior because of their own selfishness. I wish everyone treated it like the deadly virus it is.

Reflection #2 of the Quarter

The most challenging part of my project was trying to make a cohesive argument from

my topic. There is much and yet so little to write and it was difficult to structure it into an informative/argumentative piece. It was also hard to keep track of sources, like knowing what parts of which source to put together in order to support my claims. One of my successes was being able to learn a lot about my topic. It is great for me since I like to be knowledgeable and it also helped me develop my idea. My setback was probably trying to focus my essay. I had a hard time narrowing down my topic because of how intertwined all of the issues I wanted to discuss were, and it is hard for me to focus on a smaller piece when I wanted to talk about the big picture.

What changed about my research was looking for more narrow articles and research pieces, instead of going too broad and all encompassing. For example I went from looking for articles like “racism in healthcare” to “why black people are scared of medicine” and “effects of mistrust on minorities seeking health care”. I don’t think remote learning changed how I went about finding my research, I probably would have done the same thing. However, I might have used the UCI library more to find books to help me out. If I had access to on campus resources or my peers I felt like I would be able to create a more cohesive and diverse piece.

Reflection #4 of the Quarter

Before the review: I hope to get feedback on my structure and arguments. I plan to dedicate more time to reading all my sources and planning my argument/ advocacy as I want to develop my ideas further. I think I have a really solid base for my essay but it needs improvements in the flow and argument sections.

After revision: During the session I got a lot of really good feedback, I definitely went back and checked the notes left for me as I started to expand my essay. I changed some structure, but mostly I decided to expand on my previous ideas and make them more concrete. I reread some of my sources and added many missing details that were missing from my second draft. I was thinking mostly, how can I expand on this idea? What sources support this point? What good information to include? How can I frame my ideas better? I attended office hours to see how I could further elaborate on my conclusion. I knew what idea I wanted to convey, but I was struggling with how exactly to elaborate on my point. The office hours especially helped me focus on what the project was about, I definitely think I was straying from the purpose of the project.

Overall: I learned a lot about revising and weak points in my essay. I accomplished a more fully fleshed out idea, and I hoped to get a longer, more coherent and strong essay together as my final.