Dear professor Padgett,

Throughout this semester I feel my writing has developed and

flourished into that of an academic standard. I believe my progress has been
enhanced through all of the various assignments I completed in this class.
For the first time in my academic writing career, I have written a final
research paper that I am actually proud of.
In the beginning of the semester, I wrote reader responses that were
just that-responses. I did not actually go into great detail or evoke my own
opinion on the topics; for the most part I just rattled off what thoughts I could
conjure up during one smooth read through the chapters of End of Absence
or the other articles assigned. I did not possess any specific rhetoric skills
and did not have much interest in developing them. However, as I became
more engaged with my topic of how technology affects the learning abilities
of high school students, I began to actually start to analyze my writing
process and view myself as a writer and not just a college student
completing an assignment in order to graduate on time.
The next point in the semester where I noticed progress within my
writing was when I made drastic changes to my original annotated
bibliography by sharply defining my research topic as well as switching out
four of my five sources for ones that I felt presented a stronger base for my
argument. The original sources I chose were mediocre and for the most part
all said virtually the same thing. However the new sources I chose to
exchange the old ones for and include in my final research paper,
incorporated a vast array of different opinions and main points for me to
discuss regarding my topic.
Lastly, the third point in time when I realized just how much my writing
had progressed was creating the e-portfolio. Physically seeing my progress
and documenting it into individual reflections made me realize that prior to
starting this final project, I never used to reflect on my work and once I was
finished writing an assignment, the only time I ever referred to it again was
to see the grade I received for it. I think the most valuable lesson I learned
this semester that has enhanced my writing is just how important reflecting
on my finished work is. As a writer, it is crucial to look back on finished
products and take those mistakes made and learn from them. After all, thats
the golden rule of academics-to learn from past mistakes and use them to be
successful in the future.

My strengths, as far as the assignments in this class, mostly fall into

the category of grammar and word choice. I like to think I write
grammatically correct papers for the most part. However my weaknesses
focus on not being in depth enough as well as staying focused on the
assignment given. For example, as I mentioned in the reflection for my
inquiry paper, it would have been much more beneficial for me to include
concrete data rather than the majority of my opening being centered on a
personal story.
In conclusion, professor Padgett, this semester has allowed me to
develop my writing process that I already had prior to college, but in addition
I learned how to properly reflect on my work and therefore produce a final
research paper that I felt confident to turn in. By the end of this semester I
no longer feel like a college student going through the motions of producing
a paper to turn in; I feel like a writer that has a purpose with the work I
produce.

Sincerely,
Courtney Neal