Dear future students,

            My name is Wellington Gomez, and I am currently in my second semester at the City College of New York. My first semester was a big transition from High School with getting used to the workload. Now in my second semester I have a better handle on what I would have to do to keep up with my work. Currently, I am a student in your Writing for Engineering, Eng 21007 class.  Writing for Engineering isn’t an ordinary class, it  applies genuine necessities to what we ought to expect if we proceed with the major we seek thereafter. This class has enhanced my writing skills by teaching me  writing tools and methods.  The major I am seeking to pursue is Computer Science. Therefore as a future researcher I was taught the correct way to compose any document with regards to what my job may require. 

            This class was composed of four major assignments which are the following;  a memo,  the technical description, the lab report, and the technical proposal. With the four major assignments at first, I didn’t know what the correct formats were so I had to refer to my book. With the memo, I utilize it as a type of print media to convey among colleagues, supervisors, and other audiences that need to know the specific information. The memo I wrote was to the president of CCNY presenting the necessity for a student parking. The point of the technical description is to convey a message with intentions of concisely describing the structure and use of a certain product. The product I chose to write about was the purpose of a Magic Keyboard. The lab report was a  group assignment, where we had to choose a certain topic to write about and make a connection. The majority of the time there were some challenges when working in the group but we were able to overcome it and complete the assignment.   The final assignment was a technical proposal. The first group I was part of was not able to communicate effectively therefore I became part of another group. The second group went much better and we put together a solar panel proposal to be implemented in Puerto Rico.

            For each of the above assignments, we would do peer review to be able to provide feedback and make our writing assignment stronger.   In each of the assignments we were able to fulfill different course learning outcomes.  One important skill I learned in this class was the benefits of peer review. As a writer you always need and the second pair of eyes to make necessary corrections and comments you may overlook. For me writing a draft was beneficial because it allowed me to gather up my thoughts and ideas.  Other components that were very beneficial was creating reflection papers for all the assignments we also had to compose, audience analysis sheets for we could fully understand who we were writing to. Lastly, a valuable skill I learned was the importance of teamwork; three to four heads working together are better than one and composing ideas came easier.

            The transition to remote learning due to COVID-19 was a was smooth because it was already a hybrid class so most of our classes would have been online regardless. Even though we were working online we still managed to work as a group and get the work done. Yes, I had difficulties at first with my prior group but the other group I was in showed me what effective communication should look like and how to work as a team. The course learning outcome that we implemented the most was number 7 because all the assignments we utilize the online sources and the textbook to find the correct format. Another learning outcome was number 2; consists of reading, revising, editing, and self-assessment.

            The course Writing for Engineering taught me a lot of skills that I would be able to implement in the future. The skills I obtained gave me a glimpse of hands-on intense writing assignments I would come across in the future.  I look back from the first day of class to now and I strongly believe I am a stronger writer,   Thank you for all your ongoing support and all the skills and knowledge you taught us throughout the semester.

Sincerely,

Wellington Gomez