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Catherine Nelson

Professor Raymond

UWRT 1104

30 April 2017

Reflection Letter

There have been many assignments given, many mixed feelings and emotions and of

course, uphill battles during the course of the semester. University Writing (UWRT) 1104 was a

class that had its up and downs. Many of the assignments given were meant to spark new ideas

and to encourage one to think outside of the box, although I hated thinking deeply into topics, I

appreciate the assignments that were given for they helped me grow as a writer and a person.

Some topics discussed in class were controversial and it was a great open class discussion with

chances to get the viewpoints and opinions of others. I believe the daily writings and the

conversations that followed after completion was what made UWRT 1104 interesting to me.

Many emotions were shed throughout UWRT 1104. Many of my emotions risen during the

process of creating and gaining information for the genealogy project. Although many of these

emotions I attempted to spare, I wouldnt have wanted to waste them on anything other than the

genealogy project. When first introduced to the class, I dreaded and hated the thought of a

genealogy project, but yet again I appreciate this assignment because it forced me to learn

information about my family that I would have never know prior to this assignment.

Over the course of the semester UWRT 1104 has helped me grow as a person and as a

writer. Many of the assignments that were given made me think more in depth about various

topics in order to discover more information and to really grasp an understanding of the different

perspectives and viewpoints of others. Many of the studios that were completed over the course
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of the semester we were required to reply to two other students studios asking them questions or

simply make a comment about their work. By having to comment on other students studios it

broadened my perspectives on certain topics and made me think of detailed questions and

comment about what they wrote instead of simply creating surface value questions and

comments. In many ways I believe this simple task of replying to other students studios created

me into a more critical reader and writer. Furthermore, writing about topics that I had no

background knowledge on or have never heard of has also made me into a better writer. Over the

course of the semester there were many curveball assignments and topics that were questioned

and brought up that I had no prior background knowledge of. Without having any knowledge on

this set topic this forced me to do extensive research on the topic to gain more of an

understanding of what I needed to talk about. This action furthered the process of me becoming a

better writer.

English class in high school was never something that I struggled with. Throughout the

course of my high school career I always ended up with an A in all of my English classes. At

times there were things that needed improvement such as grammar, sentence fluidity and staying

on topic, just to name a few. During those four years of high school of writing essays, writing

argument papers, and conducting research I had the chance to improve in all of the areas in

which I struggled in. I believe high school provided me with a strong base in my writing career

and during those years I flourished as a writer. I will never be a perfect writer, but I do believe

that I have come a long way with my writing skills and improved myself as a whole writer. My

English teachers created a stable, strong base for my writing skills and I am now using those

skills in my college career. My accomplishments and completed assignments throughout the

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semester of taking UWRT 1104 are because of the strong base that my high school English

teachers gave me.

Writing is something that I have to do in majority of my classes. Since I am nursing

major I am required to take many sciences courses and although I do not write a lot in those

particular classes, I do write essays and papers in various other classes. Currently, I am finishing

up a Liberal Studies course here at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte called Global

Connections: Gender Relations in The Americas. This course discusses the struggles and the

current situations that males and females face in Latin America along with the United States of

America. While we were reading House on Mango Street vignettes I related a lot of what I

learned in this course to the struggles and situations that many of the characters faced in the

various vignettes. Also, in this course in particular I have had to conduct research and write a

midterm and final paper on my findings. The research skills that I have learned in high school

and the improved research skills that I have also acquired from my UWRT course this semester

has helped me conduct more efficient and accurate research for my liberal studies course.

Implementing the critical reading and writing skills I have developed over the course of this

semester will further help me decide which websites and facts are the most accurate to use when

writing my final paper for my liberal studies class. The skills that I have learned in high school

and of course this year in UWRT 1104 will continue to help me throughout the next three years

that I have here at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Although I am taking many

general education science courses currently that do not require me to write extensive papers, I am

more than positive that I will have to write papers and possibly conduct research for the courses

that are required for my nursing major.

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UWRT 1104 has contained many up and downs for me personally, but I have learned a

lot. Many of the skills that I have improved on this semester due to this course I will be able to

use for the next three years of my college career and beyond. Furthermore, I am now a more

critical person when it comes to my personal writing and critiquing the writing of others in order

to provide the best feedback. Although many of the assignments I dreading doing, I appreciate

them being assigned to me because the forced me to grow up as a person and face topics that I

suppressed.