In my self-assessment, you will find various concepts I have learned during this course like group projects, researching, sourcing, and my experience in Writing for Engineer. Through this course, I was able to tie my interests in my writing and have found new meanings in what writing is for me during mini assignments in the class. 

This class was easily my favorite for this semester. Not only was the work easy to work with and understanding but I had the free will to write what came to my mind. I’m a car enthusiast striving for a mechanical engineering degree. Cars and engineering go hand in hand for me especially with many key components of a vehicle that gave me the ability to use those components in my writing. I stuck with one main idea and from there got deeper into it. My ideas started with the importance of the wind tunnel and how it is used in various ways like cars, buses, and even buildings. From there each writing was another episode to the series of this class for me.

Having the ability to work with my peers influenced my writing. 2 brains are better than 1 as people would usually say. Well, try around 20 different brains just giving their critique to your draft to help you improve on your writing. Some of my peers even offered sources that they used that I could pull some information from that could help me with my writing. Group collaborations always gave me a different way to view things and when reading other people’s work, I pointed out areas that may have needed some work where the writer couldn’t see clearly. While I may not be a big fan of group projects, I was grouped up with people who fulfilled their tasks successfully. In our group project, we all had our own responsibilities as a team. One thing I learned that one of my partners pointed out was to find sources that were not only a magazine or journal article but also a scholarly article that could provide more credibility towards our research.

My goals for this class were something that made my focus clearly on what I wanted to not only write about but also show people who I am as a person. I want to share my passion with others and one of my strongest ways is writing it out. While watching F1 one of my favorite drivers revealed their new helmet designs and one thing that caught my attention was a saying which read “Stop Being Them.” In other words, be yourself and don’t be afraid of it. My writing fulfills the expectation of the assignment while also having my twist of showing my interest. In my lab report assignment, I talked about how aerodynamics affects a vehicle. As I mentioned the WindTunnel before I used it again for this assignment since that is the machine that is used to measure the aerodynamic efficiency and drag coefficient of a vehicle. To be a good writer you have to recognize your audience. My audience was familiar with the MTA New York City’s biggest transportation system that sometimes doesn’t always tend to work out for the riders. I decided to combine my interest and something that my readers can understand easier which helped me plan out future papers for this course. 

One area which I tend to struggle with was citing my sources. I’m someone who would find really useful information to use on my paper but would forget to credit the source. Some of those sources I mostly used from this semester in my writing were, “The New York Times” and “ Curbed New York”. Having sources that tend to focus on our city proved to be helpful with having different aspects of what is going on in our city. Being able to find information on MTA buses and how they are engineered and used to even how much this city spends millions of dollars on them. 

 Going onto the discussion board my peers and professor were able to point that out. The discussion board was a place where we would collaborate and share ideas. I went on the Owl Purdue website where they explain more on how to correctly cite your sources. A new strategy I implemented was paraphrasing my evidence. Instead of just copying and pasting the information I found and explaining it after like we were taught in middle school and high school could confuse the reader. A strong topic needs a clear stance. The same way a car needs a proper engine and the correct fuel to run and without it, your delivery would not reach where you’d like it to. Keeping my reading clear and concise is something I aim for in all my writing since I started college. 

Having the ability to write what you imagine in class is something that I did not expect when entering this class. I’ve always been told “college is going to expect you to write about things they want you to write about, not what you want” or “be ready to have work on top of work because that is what college is about.” While that last statement may be true it didn’t fit this class. I felt like I had control over my thoughts and was able to write who I was. In my journal entries, I wrote like I was being interviewed about my week or was writing in a diary. Like the book “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” 

Writing to some may seem like a lot of work or just something only used for school. To me, it is another way to escape reality and just be free to write anything that comes to mind. Anything that I feel and anything that I feel I can’t tell anyone. Writing was something I started doing in high school. It is like art where you draw what you want to be seen, you draw what you are feeling and thinking. Writing has helped with my mental health. When I don’t feel like myself I usually write what I am feeling and it’s like having someone listen without being judged. This class has taught me that there is no limit to what I strive for, to chase my dreams and hopefully write a book one day breaking all writing rules and just giving a different perspective to the writing world.