This was my second semester here at City Tech. For those of you who do not know, I returned to school in the fall after more than ten years to advance from a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to a Registered Nurse (RN). And what a journey this semester has been. It was intense managing the numerous writing assignments and working full time, but I did the best I could. Compared to the start of the semester till now, the growth in my compression and ability to convey my ideas through writing has improved. Writing, as time passed, became more straightforward, and my command over correct word tenses and sentence structure improved. While I still make mistakes here and there, the importance of reviewing my work multiple times developed and helped mitigate the number of errors I made in my writing.

Thinking over the work assigned to uses from this semester, I enjoyed them, some more than others. My favorite had to be the annotated bibliography, as I had the opportunity to research a topic that interested me and find work from professionals that hold the same opinion and took the time to see what is currently occurring and develop ways to improve the situation. The next assignment I favored was the first one, where we had the choice to either write a speech or a letter. I chose to write a letter because I would be better able to persuade my audience through what I think is a more personalized piece of work, even when published to the masses. My least favorite assignment that I still enjoyed was the multimodal project. I believe I need to be more creative to attract my audience’s attention enough to get my point across in a memorable manner, but I still tried my best.

Considering the above assignments, I will continue to utilize the lessons completing them taught me. The first assignment, the letter, taught me how valuable language is in creating emotions in readers, which drives them to act on their beliefs. The second assignment, the annotated bibliography, reinforced my ability to conduct research, evaluate my findings, and ensure the validity of the work I’m considering utilizing. The last assignment, the multimodal project, highlighted the importance of grasping one’s audience through different mediums to ensure the point is memorable and appealing in a way that resonates with those who see or hear it. All these lessons will be beneficial to use in other courses, and I’m confident in my ability to do so.

This semester we were exposed to various genres of writing and expected to be able to emulate them in the assignments mentioned above. The multiple genres we viewed guided our thoughts on how to approach the projects, our understanding of the overall purpose of the projects, and shaped how we achieved the goals of the assignments. For the letter, it had to be persuasive, so I had to figure out to stimulate a reaction from my audience. For example, I wrote, “How would you feel if your mom or dad passed because there was tired and accidentally administered the wrong medication or over/underdosed them?” Here, I tried to garner a genuine reaction from my readers. With the annotated bibliography, I was trying to find work that supported my research topic, so I needed unbiased and well-conducted text. I had to be more judgmental of the work I was considering and view them from a stricter lens. For example, I wrote, “Overall, this webinar was an excellent resource that provides context on implemented practices by a magnet hospital that worked to help reduce nurse burnout.” As an analysis of a piece, I found that I surmised, which is written more formally, in my opinion.

As you can see, what I chose to write was very intentional. The two styles are very different, but they work to achieve my desired goal. In the letter, I detailed much of my experience so that the audience could understand the situation’s impact. I wanted to appeal to emotions, so I ensured the language in the letter and the images presented did just that. Regarding the multimodal project, I used animations that portrayed the text best.

As an immigrant from Haiti, English is not my first language, so I was nervous about taking any classes that required me to write so much as my understanding of English writing rules was lacking. I was surprised to find that I was wrong in that regard. My ability is not lacking, but my confidence in myself is. As I completed more and more assignments, I found that I’m a decent writer, and if I use the resources available to me, like Grammarly, I have no problem getting my point across. Speaking of Grammarly, I must thank the Professor for introducing me to resources. I always had trouble editing my work because, naturally, as a human, I tend to make mistakes. Grammarly helped tremendously to help point out my errors and minimize the number of mistakes I made as I went from assignment to assignment.

The feedback I received from my peers this semester has also been critical to my writing development. I remember the first discussion post we had to write regarding communities and the importance of language. I wrote, “How we use language allows people to connect and share experiences. Language in various communities directs the lenses through which people can understand one’s experience.” I revived a comment from my peer that reiterated my belief that my difficulties adapting to communicating in various ways with the English language was worth the struggle as I am now better able to connect to my peers native here.

This course this semester was not what I imagined it would be, but wholly enjoyable. I look forward to using what I learned to grow and develop further. I wish all the same for those who participated in this course with me as well. I also want to thank Professor Cipriani for facilitating the space where we could mature in our writing freely with support and positivity.