When the semester started, I was very intrigued by the idea that this class would be more focus-oriented in writing about the sciences. SInce I major in Biology, I was very happy that I would start taking classes relating to my interests. I was curious at how much different this course would compare with any other regular English class. For example, in this class we would use APA citations while every single English class I have taken has always used MLA CItations. It was those differences that I think made this course stand out more to me.

I believe the first couple assignments we had were to accommodate us in writing about such different subjects. Two examples would be the first two writings I have in the portfolio. The Formal letter of Introduction and NYT Science section Summary and Response were both very short papers that could be written very fast. The cover letter was more of exploring yourself by seeing what were some of your goals ,while also teaching us some real life skills we would need in the future when we actually need to write a letter that introduces us. The second writing assignment was to choose two science related articles and give our thoughts about it. I found this assignment very simple and enjoyable because I was able to choose whatever interested me. Also I still wasn’t as accustomed to writing about science related topics back when I wrote about those two articles as I am now. 

The Scientific Controversy paper we had to write was the first assignment where we got to show off some of the skills we learned throughout the semester. We first had to start by choosing the controversy that has been happening around the scientific community. I chose AI and how it has been slowly taking over our lives. In this paper is where I was finally able to write about something that truly interested me. We also had to look for four types of resources and this was the first paper where I had to cite my work in APA format. I enhance my skills to look through online databases to get more information for this paper. I looked through way more resources this semester than I had ever before and I feel like that skill has improved since the beginning of this spring semester.

Moving on, we had the group projects and the Literature Review where our topic was Stem Cell Therapy. In our group we divided the work between four people and we also had to find four articles that would help us in the presentation. For this project, working as a team was very different to what I had done before as this was my first group project I had done in the year. Finding the four articles wasn’t as hard as I thought since we were able to look through many online databases, including the one in CCNY. In this project we also had to think of who our audience was, which was something I had never thought of and it really changed the way I think when I start to write my papers now. 

Lastly, there is the Field Observation paper which is the most recent project we had. For this project we actually went to a botanical garden to take notes on what we see. These notes would help us choose what we wanted to write about based on everything we observed. This assignment was probably my favorite one since we could write about basically anything that we could see. This project also made me take notice of what was happening outside of my own home and how truly alive everything was. With this assignment also came a self-reflection about the different observations we made. This reflection really helped me see things that I missed and stuff I need to work on. For example, I noticed that my note and observation skills are really lacking since I don’t really use them or have recently started to use them. I noticed that I followed all instructions for the paper and that made me see how my writing has been  getting better and better.

All throughout, this course really made me realize how much better my writing is. It was also able to teach different subjects like APA citations and keep strengthening other skills like my research, while also giving me the liberty to write about subjects that interest me. Basically, this class really helped me evolve and serve as a next stepping block for my writing and future skills.