Prior to this writing course, I have no experience in writing courses. I studied English and have completed many essay, but have not had the opportunity to take a writing course. I feel as though it would have been very beneficial throughout my undergraduate degree. Prior to this course, I thought that I had a good handle on writing different types of papers. After the course, I see that there is still a lot for me to learn in order to develop as an academic writer.

What have I learned throughout this writing course experience?

I think that the biggest thing that I learned is to develop a solid understanding of different types of academic papers and creating outlines. It would be nice to know that when I am assigned a literature review or a critical review, or even a research paper, that I know right from the beginning how to format and write the paper. I struggled to write in the course, because I felt as though I was getting mixed up between different types of papers when I was writing. I would think back to the research paper that I wrote in my previous course, and mixing the format up with the literature review. 

I learned that it is important to triple check criteria for assignments. Coming back to my preconcieved notions for citations, etc, I missed some of the requirements for this specifif course. It is always important to understand that instructors for each course that I take may have slightly different expectations and it is important to ensure that I am meeting those expectations. 

I learned that I still have a lot to learn when it comes to academic writing. 

I learned that I have to keep working to develop my skills and balancing the time and effort to produce my best possible writing. 

I learned skills that will help me to further my academic studies.