Throughout this course, each major assignment pushed me to develop a different part of my writing process and the way I thought about the writing process in general, together, they helped me start thinking and writing more like a social scientist. In the course, we moved from collecting stories and observations to researching scholarly articles and translating ideas for an audience beyond the classroom and professor. The biggest change for me is that I now understand writing as a process, drafting, revising, and re-revising my own work, as well as doing peer review, rather than something I’m supposed to “get right” the first time.

The Transcultural Interview was the first assignment that forced me to fully step out of myself and let someone else’s experience lead the writing. In this assignment, we conducted an interview with someone from a different cultural background and then wrote an essay and commentary analyzing what we learned. I learned to listen carefully and avoid projecting my own beliefs onto my subject, and that was genuinely challenging at first because I’m used to forming opinions quickly, as well as having myself in my writing. I became more aware of how language and cultural context shape how people are heard and treated, which connects to the course outcome about valuing linguistic difference as a resource rather than a deficit. This would only happen if I truly let my interviewee have the spotlight over any other general information or my own thoughts. Although I initially did not see an issue when I prioritize topic research instead of my subject, Professor Rodwell pointed it out to me in her feedback for my assignment when she noted, “Where is your interviewee..?” In the future, I will be more aware of getting deeper into the layers of a subject I’m studying. The interview wasn’t just “telling a story,” it was shaping a profile that was both respectful and analytical, which was a good new perspective to have for my next assignment.

The Field Observation strengthened my ability to describe what I see before I decide what it “means.” In this assignment, we observed a community we were not a part of, created field notes, and then wrote an essay and commentary based on patterns we noticed. In my earlier reflection, I focused on learning to observe details like language, behavior, and patterns in the community without inserting judgment, and that became one of the most important skills I practiced. This assignment made me pay attention to evidence: what was happening, what repeated itself, what stood out, what the insights were, and what I could support only with examples, not assumptions. This connects to the course outcomes about formulating a stance through writing (based on what I can support) and strengthening the practice of using sources, since observations need to be presented clearly and ethically. I chose a topic out of my comfort zone, which was video games. Part of the assignment was to choose a community you were not a part of and I always wanted to understand the appeal of video games, so I chose to observe the Fallout subreddit as a community of video game players. The component of this assignment that made me grow as a writer was the field notes. Although the whole assignment had the same goal, I feel that this particular exercise helped me the most to observe the community as a social scientist and not just as a regular college student scrolling on Reddit. While I observed the Reddit threads, I wrote, “Which creates this sort of beautiful anonymity in the best way. There is no gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious divide; they talk about the game, and as long as you like the game, you’re welcome in.” I remember finding this beautiful insight about the community. Video game communities can be unusual sometimes, but this fact remains true, which is something I only learned after observing the other and putting myself aside for the sake of research.

The Annotated Bibliography was where we started to build a research foundation instead of just collecting sources. In this assignment, we located scholarly sources related to our research topic and wrote short annotations explaining what each source argues and how it will be useful. The structure forced me to slow down and prove that I understood each article: its main argument, its key points, and why it belonged in my project. This assignment directly strengthened my ability to locate sources using databases and evaluate relevance, and it also improved how I summarize and paraphrase without losing accuracy or adding information that belongs in the literature review. It made my later writing easier because I wasn’t starting from scratch, I already had organized notes that connected each source to my research question.

The Literature Review was the most challenging and the most rewarding part of the semester for me. In this assignment, we synthesized multiple scholarly sources around one research question, organized them into sections, and wrote a commentary about our process. My topic, how users and social media algorithms influence each other, was interesting but difficult as it is still evolving, which made it harder to find sources that matched my specific themes. I didn’t understand the assignment structure at first. After my professor provided feedback, I finally understood what each section was supposed to do. She clarified to me that I needed to summarize, analyze, and then later conclude and evaluate the information. I realized the structure made the writing clearer and more organized because it gave every paragraph a job, prevented me from going in circles, and helped me dive deeper into the discussion. This assignment connected strongly to the learning outcomes about drafting, revising, self-assessment, locating sources, and synthesizing across texts, because I had to combine research from different perspectives into one coherent conversation.

My multimodal translation where we presented the literature review, was one of the moments where I felt I could connect literature with my creative side. In this assignment, we translated an academic idea into another format for a broader audience. I made a visually appealing PowerPoint, but I also added an interactive exercise: passing around kinetic sand in different colors. By the end, the strongest colors represented the loudest, most polarizing content in the algorithm, yet when you looked closely, you could still find the colors you wanted to see, which reflected the bidirectional relationship between users and algorithms. This project helped me understand communication and choosing the right form for the right audience. That connects directly to the course outcome about engaging in genre analysis and multimodal composing, because I had to translate a research idea into a new medium while keeping the message accurate and resonant with different audiences depending on visuals, pacing, and interaction.

Finally, building the portfolio and writing this self-assessment pushed me to look at my work as a full body of learning instead of isolated assignments. In this assignment, we organized our work into a portfolio and reflected on our growth across the semester. The portfolio made me collect evidence of my process, drafts, revisions, and reflections, and recognize patterns in how I write and how I grow. More importantly, it made me name my own strengths and struggles honestly. I can now see that my best work happens when I understand the structure and purpose of each section, plan well, and give myself time to revise instead of rushing to a final version. This final step connected the course outcomes about self-assessment, articulating a stance, and understanding writing as an iterative long practice rather than a one-time performance.

Across the semester, I developed a more objective, inquisitive, and organized approach to academic writing. The interview taught me to listen and represent someone else’s perspective responsibly. The observation taught me how to describe and analyze patterns without forcing my opinions onto what I saw. The annotated bibliography and literature review strengthened my research habits and helped me understand how academic writing depends on structure, synthesis, and evidence. The multimodal translation pushed me to think about audience and genre in a real way, and the portfolio made me reflect on my growth as a writer across time, as well as the organization of this work. Overall, this class helped me see writing as a process, drafting, revising, and re-revising my own work, as well as doing peer review, a process of learning, even if I did not always get it on one try. I learned to understand the purpose of each section, use outlines strategically, and revise with intention. This is useful knowledge for me as I plan to become a clinical psychologist, because I imagine I will also need to observe, research, and analyze in this career field.