Project #3 Reflection

Our third project was a thetic essay, where we write an essay that incorporates the research we

did for our second project and our personal experience to illustrate our standpoint on an issue that matters

to us and the society.

The academic writings I have done in other classes focuses on the evidence we from other

sources other than our personal experience. However, this academic essay is different from all the

academic essays I have written in the past for it allows me to talk about an issue that I genuinely care

about and use my personal experiences as an international student studying in United States to back up

my argument.

In my inquiry blog, I chose to research the challenges international students face and how their

presences on American campus can be beneficial for the campus. I am glad that I chose this topic because

as an international student myself, I can offer my first hand experience in American campus to prove my

argument, thus making the essay more personal and credible.

Something that I ignored during my research process was counter argument. Counter argument is

also a crucial part of a thetic essay because it shows the readers why this essay matter. However, when

researching on my topic for the second project, I only focused on the evidence that support my argument

and neglected to find evidence to support counter argument. Therefore, I had to read more articles about

how the presence of an increasing number of international students can have possible negative influences

on American campus.

After I finished my rough draft, I got the chance to talk with professor Louis about my rough

draft and ask for his advice on how to improve my essay. Professor Louis noticed that there is a lack of

transition between the second paragraph, where I suggested that international students on campus makes

the conversation more diverse and offers local students an opportunity to know more about a culture they

might not be familiar with before, and the third paragraph of my essay where I talk about other benefits of

having international students on campus. Therefore, I added a paragraph that talks about my experience in

the classroom where I introduced my class something new about my cultural background.
 After finishing this project I learned how to incorporate my personal experience and academic

research in an academic essay to make the essay more personal and credible.