Sandhya Maharaj

English & Professional Writing Personal Progress Report

Sandhya Maharaj

March 29, 2023

Table of Contents

1. Summary
2. Introduction
3. Discussion
   • Program Objectives and Expectations
   • Achievments
   • Program Obstacles
   • Career Goals
   • Professional Network
4. Conclusions
5. Recommendations
6. References

Summary

This report holds information regarding my personal progress as I delve into the English & Professional Writing program’s courses for the timeline of 2021 to 2025. Throughout the report, I reveal information concerning my educational background, courses I have taken along with the professors for each listed course, and courses I plan to take in the future to ensure I get a job of my choosing. I will officiate by stating that I am not formally a part of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, but the Faculty of Health, as I was previously studying Psychology. I am in the process of changing my program of study to English & Professional Writing and will officially be a part of this department in the upcoming Fall/ Winter semester. 

My discussion will focus on five key topics, starting with “Program Objectives and Expectations”, followed by “Achievements”, “Program Obstacles”, “Career Goals”, and finally “Professional Network”. Each point will go into the depth of my personal progress in fulfilling the program’s course requirements, as I am taking courses as if I were a part of the program. I will thoroughly discuss the achievements I’ve made, as I believe each course I’ve taken has taught me something to further my education, which can be seen as an accomplishment.

Finally, I will conclude by stating the purpose behind my report. As I iterate on how English & Professional Writing will help me succeed by preparing me to secure a job, I also mention the skills I will acquire within my 5 years at York University. Furthermore, I will provide some recommendations for the program, which include incorporating additional career options for students and promoting volunteer work among them.

Introduction

In the fall of 2021, I began my post-secondary career at York University as I enrolled in courses for the English & Professional Writing program. Prior to that, I was a student in the Psychology department from 2017 to 2019, but quit after deciding to change my program of study following a personal matter. Due to some complications, I am not yet officially enrolled in the program, though I actively engage with the curriculum, and will soon be accepted to continue my studies and receive a diploma in English & Professional Writing.

This report will focus on my progress toward graduation, as I further display the “Objectives and Expectations”, “Achievements”, “Obstacles”, “Career Goals”, and “Professional Network” I have in regard to my program, English & Professional Writing. I chose to centre my personal progress report on such ideas because my desired outcome is to attain a job using my diploma. Each idea leads up to my outcome while expressing my progress throughout the program, as I acknowledge that each course is valuable to my future career.

Even in my short time learning about writing, I have attained many skills that will someday be applied to my career of choice. In my progress report, I will be disclosing courses I have taken as well as courses I will be taking in my 5 years as a student at York University, and discuss plans, goals, accomplishments and impediments I have approached since 2021. Additionally, I hope I am guided with advice as I communicate with the English & Professional Writing team at York University.

Program Objectives and Expectations 

In 2021, I began enrolling in courses for English & Professional Writing. There were many things I wanted to learn that would influence employment after completing my post-secondary education, but because I did not know right away what it was that I wanted to do with a degree in English & Professional Writing, I enrolled in courses that would improve my writing skills to benefit my career of choice.

According to York University’s English & Professional Writing website, this program will guide me in attaining professional writing techniques, knowledge in literary study and literary criticism, digital writing, and editing and publishing (York University). Furthermore, the website promotes hands-on experience in book and bookmaking, digital authoring, periodical publishing and writing, and organizational and business writing (York University). Knowing this, I believed English & Professional Writing would prepare me for the careers I’d like to pursue. 

As I read through the English & Professional Writing program checklist, there are a few things I can expect going forward. For one, I expect to gain knowledge of a variety of aspects concerning writing, like editing (PRWR2006: Fundamentals of Editing) and how to write in a corporate setting (WRIT3003: Introduction to Corporate/ Organizational Writing). I believe this program can provide me with adequate knowledge on how to write professionally.

Achievements

Considerably, I have taken some courses that I found extremely helpful to my writing skills, such as WRIT1700: Writing: Process and Practice and WRIT1004: Research for Professional Writers. These courses provided me with content which developed my writing skills, such as essay and journalistic writing.

Last school year (2021-2022), I enrolled in Professor Jon Sufrin’s Fall/ Winter, Writing: Process and Practice. Although I found the assignments to be tedious, they were also informative and productive in my writing. One major assignment completed consisted of four mini-assignments that would make up the final paper to be submitted at the end of the Fall semester. Mini-assignments included a book summary for two short stories (1.1), conducting research via York University’s online OMNI library to extend and/or complicate the student’s idea (1.2), creating a compelling introduction and finding an appropriate epigraph (1.3), and editing and incorporating constructive criticism that was given (1.4). These mini-assignments progressed my essay writing to be better as I was taught how to write a proper essay. 

Professor Rich Shivener’s Research for Professional Writers also supplied assignments that are beneficial to my writing career and brought journalism to my attention by assigning 3 projects relating to journalism. The first taught students how to identify credible and trustworthy articles involving contentious writing texts according to journalistic ethics and standards, the second involved writing a research analysis which tended to affairs occurring within Ontario and creating an infographic on the matter, and the third taught students how to compose an online article based on an interview with a research author.

These three assignments affected my current writing skills as I learned how to write journalistically while also learning how to digitally create an online article on Google Sites. I consider these as accomplishments as I 1) learned how to write professionally, 2) gained digital knowledge, which is important in the 21st century due to technological advancements, and 3) had consideration for journalism as a profession. My final grade for Professor Shivner’s class was 97.98% (A+).

Program Obstacles

Each required course in this program will benefit the student’s schemata; however, an obstacle I’ve experienced is uninteresting courses. In the summer of 2022, I had taken Nemanja Protic’s An Introduction to Literary Study. This course entailed students completing a minimum of four reading responses, answering a discussion question in detail, a close reading exercise, a midterm test, an annotated bibliography task, and a research essay. Though the syllabus described the course to educate students on the study and analysis of literary texts, I was not completely engaged with the curriculum due to it not being properly executed. The lectures were PowerPoint presentations, with the lecturer reading off of the slides.

Although I received an acceptable final grade, I do not think I grasped a lot of its content, and I think the course could have been more captivating for students had it been executed properly. This course was an obstacle for me as I perform better when I understand what I am being taught. On a similar note, I found Natalie Neil’s Intertextualities course to be an obstacle for the same reason.

There are also some assignments that I consider obstacles due to not understanding their purpose entirely. For example, a class’s Portfolio 1 and 3 both seem ineffective overall. Portfolio 1 required students to write an essay established from the connection between a memory with a painting. I can see how this assignment allows students to practice their descriptive writing, but I do not see it as being worth much more. Similarly, Portfolio 3, which required students to produce a short children’s book using AI sources like Chat-GPT, did not provide me with adequate learnt knowledge that would benefit my future. Assignments like these are obstacles to my learning since there isn’t anything stimulating my mind to enhance my writing.

Career Goals

When deciding which program would be best for me prior to enrolling in English & Professional Writing courses, I spoke to a friend who told me they think I would do well in this program. Of course, I had to have an idea of where this program could take me, professionally. I had looked at the English & Professional Writing program’s website to get some inspiration for what I could do after graduating; however, there were not many suggestions provided. I then researched career options and grew interested in media relations, or public relations (PR).

To achieve a career in PR, I chose and wrote out each course I plan to take and when I will be taking it on a whiteboard. I was very excited to see courses like WRIT3001 Intermediate Digital Authoring, WRIT3003: Introduction to Corporate/ Organizational Writing , along with their respective practicums, and WRIT3012: Programming for Professional Writers, since I believe they will provide me with the knowledge I need to establish a career in PR.

Professional Network

Currently, in Professor Brandee Easter’s Professional Writing: An Introduction, students are finalizing an assignment which teaches how to write a resume and cover letter. The first part of the assignment entailed students performing an informational interview with someone in the field they wish to enter. Although I was unable to connect with someone directly in PR, I was able to interview Kayla Karim, a producer for CTV News. 

Karim answered many questions relating to achieving my goal and provided me with great advice for my success. One piece of advice she gave me was to write for the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, as she had done to gain writing experience for her resume. She also told me to look for opportunities provided by York University or to look for other volunteer work.

Conclusions

During the two years I have taken courses for the English & Professional Writing program, I have gained a lot of knowledge and skills that will supplement my future career in media relations, also known as public relations. Displayed through a personal progress report, this report demonstrates how this program will guide and prepare me to attain such a career, as it will provide me with professional writing techniques and knowledge in literary study, editing, publishing, and digital writing. I have also discussed courses that were previously taken, assignments that were given, and how such assignments are beneficial to the improvement of my writing skills.

Recommendations

As a result of the information presented in the discussion, York University should update its course website for English & Professional Writing to include more career options for students enrolling in the program to consider. Furthermore, the writing department should promote volunteer work to better students’ volunteer experience. These three are important to the growth of the program’s students and the University as 1) future students will be more inclined to enrol in the program, increasing the University’s student population and furthering their income, and 2) students will be able to create a clearer pathway for their future as they will be more aware of their career options and can focus on taking classes that will ensure their future.

References

“English & Professional Writing.” Writing Department, 6 Feb. 2023, https://www.yorku.ca/laps/writ/enpr/.