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Kameron Rickard
Professor Malcolm Campbell
UWRIT 1103
26 April 2016
Final Reflective Letter
Dear Professor Campbell,
Writing and I have never gone hand in hand, but as this semester progressed I realized
that I had a passion for writing, although it was not always A worthy. Something Ive learned
is that writing is fun, but writing about something youre passionate for goes way beyond that. I
decided to write about cyberbullying because Ive learned that its something I found a great
interest in. When creating my E-Portfolio, I went back and visited all the work I had completed
this semester. With the compilation of daybook entries, blog posts, and numerous papers and
assignments, I have realized how much Ive truly grown as a writer and as a person throughout
this course. The first section to my E-Portfolio is my Dear Malcolm letter, which was one of my
favorite assignments all semester. Letting your teacher know a little about you is a great way to
start the class. My website also consists of five daybook entries, two of my favorite blog posts
along with my entire blog website, my literacy narrative, annotated bibliography, topic proposal,
first and final draft of my EIP, peer review, and my final reflective letter. My E-Portfolio allows
you to swim through all my progress this semester and ends with my final extended inquiry
project, something I am very proud of.
Getting your mind flowing is super important, especially just to get your thoughts out on
a piece of paper. Thats why I appreciated the daybook entries and blog posts so much. I found

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that reading and learning about different things made me feel intelligent and got my brain rolling.
My writing class began at 9:30 in the morning, therefore I was always groggy and tired. The
routine of opening up our notebook and doing a warm up got my mind running every Monday
and Wednesday. Writing a short paragraph or response provided me with motivation to conquer
whatever work I had throughout the day and was overall good practice in becoming a better
writer. For example, my daybook entry on April 18th was you asking the class if we were
stressed that day and if so, why? The best thing about this class is that honesty was always
allowed and accepted, so I answered the question truthfully and stated that I was more stressed
than I ever have been this semester. Within my blog posts, you can find all my thoughts and
reactions to the assigned articles or videos. What I loved most about my blog entries is that I was
able to get my voice out there and share my opinion to the class. I found joy in writing about
what I had just read or watched and made sure I had fun with it, rather than doing it for a grade.
That is whats most important, write out of joy and honesty, rather than writing untruthfully to
get a better grade.
Following blogs and daybook entries comes peer review, another one of the most
productive things I did this semester. It has always been a priority to me to get my work looked
over before I continued on to my final draft so I was very relieved when I heard we were getting
peer review groups. Even in middle and high school, I would always ask my dad to re-read what
I just wrote, even if it was just to check for spelling errors. With the help of my two amazing
partners, I was able to take their opinions and advice and work hard to make all my assignments
better than they were before. There is always room for improvement and that is something I
picked up this semester through you and through my classmates. One example of realizing there

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is always room for improvement was during the construction of my Topic Proposal. While this
was easier for some students, I found that I had a harder time with it. My topic was originally
directed towards bullying in general. After completing the first copy of my Topic Proposal, I got
feedback from both you and my partners that bullying was too broad of a subject and that there
was too much that could be said. While researching more, I found that there were so many
different branches of bullying. For instance, there is verbal bullying, physical bullying, cyber
bullying and social bullying. While talking to my peer review group and researching more on my
own, I came to the conclusion that cyberbullying is what sparked my interest. Although the
Topical Proposal was hard for me and not one of my favorites, having a helpful peer review
group and teacher made it all worth the while.
I have always enjoyed writing, and Ive always thought I was good at it. When it comes
to my strengths, I would like to congratulate myself on my use of time and versatility. I enjoy
writing almost any type of paper/story and I believe I can be a strong writer for all styles of
writing as well. I am NOT a procrastinator, never have been and I never will be. I take my time
with everything and thats definitely one of my perks, especially in this course. When it comes to
my weaknesses, I can admit that I am not the best at taking the time to research as well as
repeating too many things. I often find that I run out of things to say and repeating is the first
thing I do. One assignment where my strengths shined was the Literacy Narrative. This
assignment allowed each of us to discuss something we are good at, something we adapted, and a
way we became who we are today. Writing about my first job at a restaurant was fun. I
reminisced on old memories and got to share my story as to how I became the outgoing person I
am today. This paper let me talk freely and speak my mind and was definitely a style of writing

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Im good at. It showed all my strengths and was an assignment I was proud of. My weakness of
repetition and researching still remains, but I am proud to say that both you and my peer review
partners have helped me work on it.
Something that has always been a downfall of mine was finding useful sources when
researching. In the past, Ive always just grabbed the first site that popped up on Google and
thats definitely something that has changed this semester. With the help of the UNC Charlotte
Atkins Library page, I have learned how to effectively find useful sources that can provide lots of
information. When I first got assigned the Annotated Bibliography, I wanted to cry. I had heard
from multiple peers that these types of papers, well sucked. Didnt I just say I wasnt good at
researching? Anyways, the library database provided me with so many different sources I could
use within this paper and I was shocked at how easy it really was. Turns out, the Annotated
Bibliography was one of my favorite and easiest assignments. Finding four, well informed,
scholarly sources went hand in hand with good time management. Luckily, I had that. I started
this paper less than three days after it was assigned and Im proud to say I received my first A!
The Annotated Bibliography taught me that reflecting on sources wasnt as bad as I thought and
that I was more than capable of researching. One way I have progressed this semester is
understanding that I am not a bad researcher, I just wasnt checking the right places. Now I know
how to properly search, find, and cite different websites, books and articles.
The most important work to me this semester is the Extended Inquiry Project. So much
time and effort has gone into this project and I am so proud of what Ive accomplished. It
required a lot of late nights and researching, but I was able to grow as a writer and show all the
strengths I truly had. Might I say, this is what has caused me the immense amount of stress I

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mentioned in my daybook, but it is all worth it now that I have become an expert on
Cyberbullying. What makes this so important to me is the fact that I am now able to educate so
many people on what I am passionate about. I hope to educate people on the effects of
cyberbullying along with how helpful it is to raise awareness. From the EIP first draft all the way
to the final draft, you can see the clear changes I made to make my paper better. The EIP was a
different style of writing and a long process I definitely wasnt used to, but I was able to learn
through you and my classmates that I could do it. What was most helpful to me was that we were
able to have a first draft, track changes, and finally the EIP itself. The first draft had a lengthy but
helpful process that consisted of asking questions, researching, finding important things to talk
about and overall working to look like an expert on something I love. With the feedback and
criticism from my peers, I was able to transform my first draft into something even more. The
process of the EIP has made me appreciate writing so much more and provided me with so much
feedback that helped me grow as a person and not just a writer.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of myself is determined. I have always
been driven to accomplish anything I want. Determined is definitely a word that expresses how I
felt this whole semester in UWRT. Within my E-Portfolio, I hope that you and my peers can see
how far Ive come as a writer and as a person. My website, and even the theme, describes who I
am and shows how hardworking I am. I included all my work on my website as well as reaction
paragraphs to tell you what I was thinking/feeling. While working on my E-Portfolio, I was
always thinking about ways to make it better and ways to improve my work and this is definitely
an outcome of this class. I feel more confident in my writing and am excited to show people
beyond this class my website. Becoming a better writer, thinker and questioner was a main goal

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in this class and Im proud to say that I couldnt have accomplished all three with any other
professor. With the gracious help of you answering all my emails and questions, I can see that I
have matured in various language skills and as a person and can see the care you have for each
and every one of your students. Writing is fun, but writing about something youre
PASSIONATE for goes beyond that. You treat us like the adults we are and I only have you to
thank for how far Ive come.

Sincerely,
Kameron Rickard