Writing for engineers is a second level English course in which I had to write as if I was an engineer. Coming into this class was hard considering I was a freshman and had never had to do this type of writing before. My past English class experiences don’t compare to this one considering I excelled in those as well as had confidence in my work and writing skills. However, with this class, I had to rewire my brain to think and write like an engineer, and although I’m not a hundred percent there yet, I do know what that looks like. I learned a lot, including the importance of having multiple drafts. I’ve never done more than a first and a final draft in my previous writing assignments. I learned to formulate a stance through and in my writing, I practiced using various library sources, online databases, and the internet to locate sources appropriate to my writing, and I learned to be mindful of my readers of when writing. Throughout this course, the assignments I’ve had to do have made me an overall better writer, and a better engineer.

First and foremost, I have developed and engaged in the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process during my time in this class, and that has further enhanced my strategies for editing, drafting, revising, and even the self-assessment portion of my assignments. To break that down, I have had to make a lot of drafts for everything I have written in the class, all of which I had to work with others to revise and edit. For the Memo assignment, I had many copies of my first draft, which different people edited and revised. With a total of four sets of eyes, I was really able to get a thorough edit/ revision process for the memo. Of course, I still wasn’t amazing, but I got far considering I could have gotten a zero for the assignment. While a total of four people read my Memo, one of them wrote, “Read over the format/assignment on the syllabus, “ while another said, “ The format should be changed because it just looks like an essay right now instead of a memo.” Both of my classmates said this in reference to the fact that my memo was double spaced, where a memo should not be double spaced. I learned that when the instructor wants the best draft, he/she really wants the best draft you could possibly make. To add, I also learned how easy it is to overlook something especially when you think you know what you’re doing. Having my peers read my paper was also helpful because, in addition to feedback on how to improve, I was given several compliments throughout my first drafts. For example, in the memo, one of my peers noted that my purpose is, “clear and relatable,” while another peer added, “I like how the recommendation isn’t demanding, but considerable.” These comments help me as a writer because they help me understand which parts of my writing I don’t have to necessarily change, and have done a good job in, versus the parts in which I should focus and improve upon.

Peer review is helpful in many ways, as not only does a writer receive feedback on their writing, but in a classroom setting like this one, the writer can also read their peers work and learn to improve themselves. Having a piece of work which is also fulfilling the same requirements as my own writing is helpful because it can help me locate what I missed, help me understand the assignment better, as well as have a reference point to my own writing. Personally, if it weren’t for the peer reviews, in and out of class, I wouldn’t have been able to completely fulfill the requirements of the assignments because I didn’t know how to take on these tasks I’ve never seen before. Despite the setbacks, my collaboration with my peers really boosted my performance farther than I believed possible.

Apart from the Memo, the Lab Report Analysis snuck three drafts out of me, all of which required me to go through everything I wrote, over and over again, to try to find the mistakes that held me back. Professor Rodwell gives amazing feedback, and one of the tougher things I can appreciate is that when she notices a consistent mistake throughout the paper, she will only point it out once, however, I had to read through my paper to find every part where I made that same mistake. This forces the writer to know and understand what he/she did wrong, and how to find and eliminate this mistake in their future writing.

 Writing for Engineers has helped me practice using various sources to find information for my research. This includes using library sources, online databases, and just hundreds (yes hundreds at this point) of websites to find articles and etc. For the memo, I had to research and find a problem on campus and find a solution to the problem. I searched to find how many classrooms were in the NAC building, to prove that a lot of students need to get to classes in the NAC building while having a hard time navigating the building. This information is very difficult to find as that’s not really a popular question people have to ask about CCNY’s specific building NAC. I only received estimates and found that the NAC is the biggest building on campus, and while those things certainly attribute to my claim, they aren’t as strong as knowing how many classes there are.

For the lab report analysis, I had to research and find published lab reports, which was difficult because the internet is filled with lots of student lab reports, but companies and professionals don’t seem to upload their lab reports online as much as university students. Certain lab reports were off topic, very hard to depict/ understand and overall, this assignment really forced me to learn how to conduct online research. I was changing lab reports and finding new ones all the way until I had to start writing about them. At first, I was looking for space robots, probes for outer planet missions, but I had to give up because I didn’t find any lab reports on these topics. However, I eventually found an online database by Google, in which I found a lot of robot-based lab reports. Of course, I had to scan through tons of reports to find ones I can come even close to understanding, and eventually, I did. I learned just how hard it is to find credible documents online, but I also learned the importance of looking in different places, and not giving up when all seems hopeless.

For the Technical description, I had to break down and describe a Magna Doodle, and I had to find out everything, parts, and subparts, what they’re made of and how it all works. I’m genuinely surprised that this information is really available online, but then again, when does the internet cease to amaze people. The research here was much more specific, which made it easier, but nonetheless helped me improve my researching skills. I couldn’t rely on the Wikipedia page on Magna Doodle and had to search for a lot of articles to find one piece of information at a time. For example, article one would tell me that the plastic board has thick white liquid inside, while article two specifically tells me that its glycerol and etc. Additionally, while article one breaks down the parts of the Magna Doodle, article three would explain its impact on society and why it has been such a popular toy for decades.

The assignments in this writing class have required me to be mindful of my audience and the range of linguistic differences between myself and a potential reader. It’s been noted that I tend to speak directly to the reader in my essays, which is informal considering that these are professional works. Though I still struggle with that, I’ve managed to include less “you” and “we” throughout my papers as I’ve progressed through the semester. Professor Rodwell introduced a new problem to me, I need to stop giving credit to my reader for things I have done. To be clear, in places where I’d say something like, “I will refer to this report as lab number two,” I often said, “We will refer to this report as lab report number two.” In these instances, the reader has done nothing but read my work, and it isn’t their job to call a lab report ‘lab number two,’ it is my job, and too often I would give the credit to my reader. Furthermore, I also overused the word, ‘they’ in most of my papers. For example, I mention who ‘they’ is once, let’s say its the authors of a report, but then every single time after I would refer to the authors as them or they instead of alternating between ‘they’ and their actual names. While doing this didn’t affect me because i was still able to follow my writing, it was extremely inconsiderate to my reader who would naturally have a very hard time understanding and following along with my writing.

I have also had to learn to take technical terms and break it down for my readers in the technical description as well as the lab report when I dissected the manga doodle and the lab reports. Practicing switching on the engineering lingo and regular everyday English really prepares me for my future engineering career.

The course has been hectic, but after years of easy A English classes, I guess I deserved one that would make my head spin. It was really interesting to get to write a different kind of argument essay (technical description) for once, and it was refreshing to have to conduct my own research for this class. The memo was a real eye opener, who would have thought I would struggle so much with one of the simpler assignments in an English class. The introduction took me by surprise as it really made me realize what I had gotten myself into, going into professor Rodwell’s class. In all fairness, I wish I had been able to give Professor Rodwell a less tired version of me, I would really have made her proud because I am confident I am going to succeed as an engineer because of her and this intensive Writing for Engineers class.