Dear Reader,

Welcome to my E-portfolio, a grand amalgamation of my work this semester. This

semester I covered a variety of topics, from studios to narratives. There is a research paper,

preceded by a questions proposal paper that details how I learned to write research-based topics

in a professional manner. Furthermore, there are a variety of samples from my daybook, such as

reactions to quotes and details on my thoughts regarding the growth and evolution of my writing.

Finally, all of these samples are supplemented by reflections that are meant to exhibit how my

writing abilities have been honed and refined over time. When I first entered this class, I was

nowhere near a polished writer let alone a decent one. I was able to answer the question at hand,

but going above and beyond the bare minimum was something I struggled with. Writing is a very

complicated process, that has an easy curve to become decent, but a steep one to master. In the

world, writing can be anything from a professional email to a slogan on your local coffee shop.

Writing is something that you use to convey your emotions, but also to debate and criticize the

emotions and thoughts of others. It is a double-edged sword, a place where you can lose the

meaning and purpose you initially set out with, but one where you can sharpen and hone it into a

piece worthy of showing to others. This was evident in my daybook, where I detailed how

writing could relate to real life. In particular, my summary and reaction to the quote in the third

entry was something I was proud of. I really changed my mindset and outlook on how to

approach anything and the idea of moving out of one’s own comfort zone. This was something

that has allowed me to really chase the horizon and try to become better in everything I do, and

my third entry seeks to provide you with that impression.

All the assignments helped me become a better writer over the course of the semester.

From the get-go, the daybooks were instrumental since they were stress-free writings that could
be opinionated, narrative-based, reactions, or simply something that was on your mind. By

engaging in these, I was able to experiment with the style of writing I wanted to pursue and

incorporate into my natural way of writing. From there, the studios allowed me to use these

stylistic choices and mold them to various prompts. Specifically, looking at the Writing about

Writing prompts in the first and fourth studio, there was a large difference in how I approached

both assignments. While I maintained a similar structure and way of approaching the prompt, I

had a very different way of conveying the themes and points that the audience was supposed to

understand. I was able to integrate the use of myself as an opinion into the fourth studio, a stark

contrast to the more third-person and streamlined view proposed in the first studio. Alongside the

studios, this was evident in my narrative upload, an assignment that was my most personal to

date. Talking about my increasingly waning reading fascination, and the replacement of reading

as a hobby with sports and clubs was something that I was able to maximize my use of personal

feelings and emotions in. This was something I was very proud of because I really enjoyed

explaining my situation, and providing some hindsight opinions in between to show the growth

in my thought process since then. Finally, the research assignment and questions proposal

allowed for me to refine research-based writing, and to maintain a level of professionalism and

meticulousness in my answer. As a person, my mindset of how effective writing could be

changed drastically because I learned that I could enjoy writing papers and more prompt-based

assignments alongside freewriting. As a writer, I evolved my style of writing, incorporating

personal and unbiased viewpoints and obtaining the ability to adapt to the various prompts and

types of papers I was assigned.

Peer Review was a large part of this semester because I not only interacted with my

classmates and learned about how they approached this class, but I also incorporated some of the
choices and ways of thinking about assignments from them. I approached peer review by

focusing on the themes and topics and seeing how my peers could either maintain their topic

lines and focus or how they could branch out to encompass them fully if they were missing

certain arguments or ideas. Grammatical corrections were something I focused on the least

because while spellcheckers and other apps such as Grammarly exist, they cannot help you stay

on point or maintain a fluid structure and transition from idea to idea. I would also make a point

to read through the entire paper first before changing anything and to make comments on ideas

and sentences that stuck out to me as a form of encouragement and motivation. The comments I

received from peers were things I took to heart, and I incorporated the advice I got into my

assignments. For example, when I was writing my narrative upload, I didn’t originally have

nearly as many reflection moments, but I changed this once I saw a comment stating my lack of

reflection. I learned that peer review isn’t just something that should be considered a useful tool,

but something that you should try to incorporate into all your writing, because the perspectives

and opinions that a fresh set of eyes can give, is something that can really enhance and elevate

your writing in the long run.

My most important work in this class was probably the research-based paper I completed,

mainly because it was the one that I was least comfortable writing. Even with the ability to

choose my own topic, I was not very well versed in expansive research and making sure I was

able to structure and show my idea without presenting too much bias. It is important because

research-based papers are something I will have to continue doing as I aspire to become a doctor.

Doctors have to complete research papers in med school, as well as later on in clinical research,

and this is something I should have down and refined before I enter that stage. Going into this

paper, I was unsure of where to go with my topic, but I chose to be meticulous and cover all the
factors as to why there was a disparity between STEM and Liberal Arts majors. After hardships

and lots of research, I was very pleased with the end product and how it really showed my

passion and thoroughness in the preliminary stages of the assignment. I was also happy with the

lack of bias present and how I managed to include a resolution without turning my informative

essay into a persuasive one. The professional relevance to what I am seeking to do in my life, as

well as the way my writing evolved to be technically sound and cover all bases, makes this paper

my most important work this semester.

Throughout the class, my mindset and ability to move and work out of my comfort zone

evolved and changed. This was a result of me absorbing the various ways and stylistic elements

to writing that I had never given prevalence or considered heavily. As a result, I noticed a large

boost in the quality of work by the end of the semester, since I was able to seamlessly

incorporate everything I had learned into my natural approach to writing. This allowed me to

even work on assignments that I would consider out of my comfort zone. From the getgo, my

vocabulary was something I would always consider to be on the strong side since I knew both

technical and more informal ways to state various subjects and complex ways to structure my

essay without confusing my target audience. However, maintaining a target audience in an essay,

and including personal emotions and opinions was something I was not very well versed in. This

is something that changed the most this semester and became one of my biggest strengths by the

end of the semester. I was very pleased with how gratifying writing could be, and how I was able

to see a visible improvement in my writing by keeping at it and giving my best efforts. Going

into the future, I want to continue to expand my vocabulary, and my ability to incorporate

narratives into technical papers.

Aarush Sharma