This semester, we covered diverse topics from punctuation and formatting to team building and getting a job. You learned how to produce letters, memos, and e-mail. What were your favorite topics? How have your skills and thinking changed? In short, what did you learn and how are you using it?
Simplifying writing for businesses and colleges since 1990
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Meet Dona,
Dona J. Young is a teacher, facilitator, and writing coach who believes that writing is a powerful learning tool that shapes our lives and careers. In addition to teaching professional writing online, she designs and facilitates corporate training programs on effective writing and communication.
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This semester I learned many things to benefit me in the future. My favorite topics that I believe will benefit me in the long run were making the cover letter, resume, and thank you letter. I had the opportunity to make my resume and receive the correct feedback needed to make it better. It is very important to have a well written resume with a cover letter, and of course to send a thank you letter so it shows I appreciated the time to be interviewed. Formatting these things correctly is something I will take with me from this class. APA style is something I strongly benefited from this semester, and it actually helped me to write papers in other classes I am currently enrolled in. Overall, every assignment that we did is something to learn from. I enjoyed how there was no “busy work”, and it all seemed to actually benefit us.
Michelle
Hi Professor Young. This semester started out sort of difficult for me since I have not been in school for over 10 years. APA formatting was the hardest, but after you helping me, and reading your book, I finally learned the correct way to write an APA style paper. My favorite thing about this class, was hearing other people’s responses in the forums. I think it is interesting to see how people differ and how some are the same. My favorite topics were resumes, interview questions, and learning how to write memos and thank you letters. Those are all important in the working world, so now I feel like I have a better knowledge of what to expect and how to handle different experiences.
I believe I will use many of the topics we covered when I am looking for a job. I know I will use a lot of these topics after I find a job as well, because writing is in your everyday life as a professional. I really enjoyed learning from you. Thank you!
Lauren Cox
This course has been one of the most beneficial classes that I have taken, because I can directly apply what I have learned into my job, and going forward in my career. The biggest takeaway for me this semester was the document formatting. I was able to tweak my resume to make it look more professional, as well as gaining experience in writing letters to customers and perspective employers. I also found the forums helpful, because we got to discuss as a class what we have learned individually, and share our experiences with one another.
My favorite part of this course was writing using APA style and answering the last few forums. Before this class, I was not really familiar with APA and would struggle to format my papers. Now I have a better understanding of how to write in APA format.
I have learned to create my resume on my own, how to make a fax sheet , and cover letter. Also, when and why to use a common. My skills and thinking has changed because I no longer have to guess how to punctuate when writing. This course has only made me a better writer.
The last few forums in this course, taught me a lot about myself. I learned the areas in my life that I need to improve and what type of leader I would be in the workplace. Also, that I need to improve my interviewing skills. I am starting to work on many of these things in my life right now. I will be applying for jobs this week, I joined a new church last weekend, plan on setting up a mock interview, and making time for myself.
I would highly recommend this course. I learned a lot personally and academically.
Talia
This semester has been extremely beneficial to me as I further my learning and professional careers. There were many things that I enjoyed, but over all I really enjoyed the various letters we were required to write. I truly believe that they will come in handy for the future and I plan on keeping and utilizing all materials from this class. The resume has actually came in handy recently, and I am looking forward to feedback on that. Beyond the letters, I now feel a lot better about interviews and job opportunities. I did not know how to follow up after an interview and I think the best way is with a letter. One final thing I enjoyed was the interview. I took it very serious and was intrigued by what my interviewee had to say. It is always interesting learning more about the field you are studying. This class was one that I would highly recommend to anyone who needs a boost in excelling their professionalism.
Hi Professor Young,
I’ve learned an incredible amount this semester.
In previous classes, I’ve sometimes felt that what I learned could not relate to the real world. With this class, however, I can really see the value of everything that we have learned and I know that I will use all this information for the rest of my life.
My favorite topic was on cultural sensitivity. In the field of social work, it is especially important to be culturally competent and to be able to work with a very diverse population. The chapter on cultural sensitivity gave me the tools I need to be able to work with people of differing values, without feeling like I’m always walking on eggshells. I know that I need to follow the platinum rule and treat people how they want to be treated, not how I would want to be.
My skills have changed drastically because I went from not knowing how to compose a proper business letter, to now feeling confident and able to take on any business letter that may come my way. Before this class I felt confident in my academic writing, but not in my professional writing. Now, I feel confident in both and I’m truly grateful for that.
I see how what I’ve learned in this class is showing in the way I write emails, letters, and even discussion postings. My writing feels more professional and composed, and it’s thanks to everything I’ve learned in this class.
Thanks for everything and best wishes,
Becca
Throughout the semester, I have learned a great deal about not only professional writing but also a lot about my own learning style.
My favorite topic we learned about this semester is formulating a business email and building a resume. I found both activities very informative as well as fun. The skills acquired from learning how to format a business letter and resume, can be used in my everyday life. My skills and thinking have definitely changed for the better. When the beginning of the semester first started I had no idea what a salutation was or how to even format a message or email, and now I feel confident that my skills regarding that have greatly improved. Also, as far as my thinking goes, while writing I forumulate my thoughts more efficiently now.
This course was very enjoyable and informative. I definitely recommend this course.
Candace
Throughout the semester, my favorite topics were the professional letters and resume assignments. I enjoyed them because I felt like I was learning something I would actually use in the future in the “real world.” My formatting skills definitely changed and improved. I learned a lot about formatting professional letters and documents, which are very valuable skills to have. In short, I learned how to act like a professional in the business world.
I would have to say that my favorite topic for the semester was the writing interview. I really liked how this tied the semester together with showing that writing is used so often in the business world. I also liked the APA formatting practice that was gained throughout the semester, because this is something that is totally new to me and I really felt that the work we did this semester gave me a much better understanding of how to properly format an APA paper. I also enjoyed the e-mail section of the course, it has helped me to develop my e-mail formatting and I feel that I can now write a professional e-mail that is properly formatted. With the importance of e-mail in the business world, this was a great topic for this course. I also enjoyed the letters and learning how to properly format a business letter. The variety of letters we wrote throughout the course was also good because it really made me think about different settings that I will likely encounter in my future career in business. Overall, I learned a lot about formatting, tone, and grammar. All of this is only going to make me a better writer and in the end a better employee.
Dyllan
My favorite topic was the hardest topic to learn for me this semester. I enjoyed learning about memo. I never really knew what they were for, when to use them, and how to write them prior to this semester. I thought that memos were for old people and that I would never need to know much about them. Now I understand what a memo is and how to format it properly. I also enjoyed fixing our resumes. I had a resume prior to taking this class, but I found out this semester that it was not properly formatted and I had too many repeating words. Now I have redone my resume and employer will see that I am professional and well educated. My skills and thinking have change completely this semester. I feel like I am more confident when I email teachers and writing letters to my bosses. I would always wonder if I said what I was suppose to say when I email my professors, and now I know how to properly format and email. I will continue to work on explaining what I mean more efficiently.
Hello Reader,
My favorite part of this course was the interview. The interview allowed me to see the type of writing that I would be doing in my chosen profession. After the interview, I felt confident that I could meet those requirements. I was able to get insight on what my everyday would be like. The interview was only supposed to last 20 minutes, but my interviewee had a two hour conversation with me. My interviewee put things in perspective and gave me information about my future career that motivates me to continue my on my chosen path.
I have greatly improved my grammar skills. I am no longer relying on Microsoft Word to correct all my mistakes. I also learned how to write letters to businesses. I would have never known how to properly complain if it wasn’t for this course. Hopefully, my complaints will be taken more seriously now.
Thank you for reading.
All the best,
Kim
Hi everyone,
This class was such a wonderful class. I am an English major, so this class was very helpful for my writing. Throughout this semester I have spoken about the struggles I have with writing and editing. I have a bad habit of always doing those things at the same time. I never let myself complete my thoughts as I write, but this class really forced me to learn how to break that habit. I still struggle with this, but I am working hard to break this habit.
Through this class I also found confidence in my writing. In the beginning of this class we discussed the issues we have with writing and for me one of them was not feeling confident in my writing. I tend to be too wordy because I believed big words made my writing more interesting. I learned this semester it isn’t about the words you use, but how you use them.
My favorite topic was the core values. It was interesting to look within ourselves, but to also see what other’s find important. I will enjoyed that forum. I had so much fun doing that assignment I actually asked my mother what she would rank as her most important core value. It was interesting to do that for class, but I was happy to bring that topic into my everyday life as well.
Overall I learned much about APA style, which was something I had very little experience with, and I learned the importance of having confidence in one’s writing. It was a pleasure to work with Professor Young, but it was also a delight to work with all my classmates!
All the best,
Anjelica Mendoza
Hi Professor Young:
I have learned a lot in your class. I thought the one thing that I learned the most from was the grammar work. I know that I had struggled with this portion of work. Even though this class was an online class, you still did your best at teaching me the ways of the comas. I know that I will need work on this aspect of writing constantly but it was very helpful for me that you would give me extra work to do. I think that my favorite part of this class was the constant feedback. I think that it was extremely helpful to get all the feedback.
Thank you for helping me this semester.
Nicole
I
Hello Professor Young,
I have learned so much in this semester. All of the techniques that I learned in your class will definitely come in handy when I go on in my career. I feel like you taught us how to carry ourselves the best way possible when it comes to communicating in a professional manner. We leaned how skills on how to improve our writing weather it be a resume or a simple thank you letter. I really struggled with the APA format papers but doing one actually helped. I know I will definitely have to write more of those in the future. I greatly benefited from doing one in this class and being prepared to do future APA format papers. This class really prepared me for a better future in communication and writing.
Have a wonderful summer.
Fernando Carrilo
Hi all,
My favorite topics that I learned this semester were punctuation rules for commas and semicolons and proper APA formatting. I learned that APA papers require two spaces after a period and how to space my lines out appropriately. I am now applying all of the standard APA rules in my writings. This helps my writing to appear to be more professional and credible.
After learning different topics this semester, my formatting for business letters and e-mail messages has changed. Before, I failed to always include a greeting and closing in my e-mail messages. For business letters, I didn’t use semicolons, and I would indent all my paragraphs. I also learned to use simple, effective wording in my writing. Previously, I would use unnecessary words and make my text difficult to comprehend.
I am still struggling with writing my memos. For most of my school life, we have written reports or narratives, and the memo format still feels foreign to me. Memos don’t include a greeting and have different formatting than much of what I have done before. For example, memos don’t have paragraph indentations, and each section has a heading. I have started to put more focus on formatting and composing my business documents in order to better communicate with my colleagues.
Thanks for a great semester. I enjoyed learning with all of you. Enjoy your summer.
All the best,
Vicki Zepeda
My favorite topic was when we need did the core value forum. I really made me think about my life and what I want to do in the future to improve. It honesty made you evaluate yourself and decide if you want to make a change. My skills have definitely changed for the better. Before taking this class, I used to get scared of writing papers or letters, Even with my e-mails, I wasn’t to sure how to format them. But, now I send e-mails with ease and feel confident in my writing abilities. I am glad that I was able to class, I am able to say with a smile that I like writing and know what I am doing.
Kaitlin
Hi Everyone,
This semester of professional writing has been both challenging and rewarding. My writing abilities have been pushed in ways I haven’t experienced before. Like you, I would like to take this time to express some of the ways I’ve grown through this course.
Before this class, I had never been required to use APA formatting, so I really value that unit. Just weeks after learning the style I had used my new knowledge in two other classes. My work in this class definitely had an impact on some critical assignments in others.
Aside from learning to format a variety of business documents, I’ve become aware of the nuances they require. In my future career, I will know the basic principles that will convey professionalism in my writing. At the start of class I wasn’t even aware of the subtle influences that create a clean work.
Our review of common grammar errors has really benefited me greatly. I’ve never been very proficient in grammar, so this unit was really overdue. Taking another look at comma and semicolon rules has transformed the quality of my writing, and I hope to continue refining my skill.
Upon completing this class I realize that I still have a ways to come. I hope to continue advancing my understanding of formatting and style until I can write without referencing a text for help. Similarly, I recognize that my writing can use a better reader centered approach. A huge difficulty I usually face is flow. I can’t seem to reliably blend ideas together to form a natural feeling.
Thanks for reading, have a great summer break!
All the best,
Kyle Burch
Hi everyone,
First of all, congratulations on completing another semester of college. I hope you all did well!
Writing in the business world is not always an easy task. It proves to be a challenge for many because it is unlike any writing that is done in previous schooling. Not all students are taught the proper way to format emails, business documents, or memos. Instead their minds are directed towards writing the standard essay, where meeting a word count and using extravagant diction become the primary focus. It can be tough to breakaway from the essay style or “five paragraph mentality.” This course helped modify my writing into a more professional style.
Some really useful skills we learned were how to create a cover letter and a resume. This will pay out many times in the future. In addition to the many skills we learned, I think some of the most important exercises consisted of giving and receiving feedback. The forums were also helpful because they gave insight into how other people thought about a specific topic.
Not all courses have material you will utilize the rest of your life, this class did. It was great to learn skills that are beneficial for the future. Thanks for a great semester. Good luck to you all!
Nathaniel