Tag: reflection

Kayla Ramos Reflection

When brainstorming ideas for my Unit two research portfolio, I decided I wanted to focus on a marginalized group that I do not consider myself to be a part of. I believed that this would allow me to have a completely unbiased approach to the types of sources I decided to use, and honestly reflect on what I had learned. I also aimed to completely walk my readers through my research and have them experience the breakthroughs that I had while building my portfolio. In the end, this decision benefited me greatly because I ended up with a wide variety of sources that focused on the perceptions of Queer individuals in the workplace. When I started finalizing information I wanted to include in my Unit three final project, I was able to decide which pieces of information had the biggest impact on my own ability to connect to a group of people that I might not have considered had I written about something that I had a prior knowledge about. The readings from “They Say, I Say” helped me to understand the importance of a well-rounded research portfolio and the impact it will have on my audience. The templates for countering arguments aided in my use of sources that did not directly support what I was trying to convey but instead rounded out my argument. 

Throughout all of the units, being able to receive constructive feedback on all of my assignments ahs helped a lot. My favorite part about collaborating with others was being able to see how my writing affects different audiences. Even though I was only publishing my writing for my peers to see, I gained a deeper understanding of the types of rhetorical decisions I should make when trying to persuade, inform, argue, or produce any other type of text. Multimodal media has also had an impact on my growth throughout this course. In my Unit three project I made use of an infographic to express my claims. Some writing classes can place an excessive focus on the more traditional forms of literature but this course opened my eyes to how useful all of the ways we convey information are.

Honestly, prior to this course ,I had not put much consideration into my ideas with regard to members of the LGBTQIA+ community let alone focus specifically on their experiences in corporate America. Unit one opened my eyes to impacts that discrimination have on various groups of people. Unit 2 made me shift that understanding into a specific group of individuals and the distinctive forms of discrimination they faced. Unit three helped me to reflect and share what I had learned and ultimately made me a stronger ally for the LGBTQIA+ community and helped me understand the importance of equity for all people.

I just want to end off by thanking all of the other people in teh class for helping me grow throughout the course. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to read my work and provide useful feedback. I also enjoyed being able read your writing and learn about new things. Lastly, I want to say thank you to professor Oakes for all w the support and guidance. Have a great semester everyone!

Reflection Joanna Vines

For each unit assignment, I have researched a different topics. However, still focusing on the core themes of our course: organizational culture and workplace. For Unit 1 I expanded the canon by researching how LGBTQIA+ individual face challenges in the workplace, for Unit 2 I compiled a portfolio regarding the role of racial/ethnic identifies and how that affects the level of income and the connection that has to health statues, and for Unit 3 I unpacked an issue that I can relate to which is the mistreatment of women in the workplace. All of these topics were interesting to explore, and I have gained a deeper understanding on the struggles people with different backgrounds could experience and, on the importance, and ways of allyship. These assignments served as a great opportunity to understand the world of work which is quickly approaching for me. I will take what I have learned and continue to educate myself and apply it into future fields. Additionally, I like how I did not stick with one topic the entire way through this course because it diversified new perspectives I have developed. This course was such a great experience because I developed writing skills and exposure to important topics. Additionally, the feedback I received was always so detailed and insightful. I will take everything I learned to future work. I also am going to utilize “They Say, I Say” in my future writing. I loved this book and it helped guide me through so many assignments through the duration of this course. I like the templates and examples because it helped me get started with writing when I was stuck, as well as craft arguments and conclude my thoughts.

Unit 3 was my favorite because of our final project. I enjoyed having the freedom to choose my own topic and media form. It made the assignment way more interesting and engaging. I found the different steps through all the projects a very effective way to organize, plan, and think about what I was trying to accomplish with my work. Normally, I do not take all of those steps before completing a writing assignment. However, this year (and going forward) I am going to use the templates and techniques in my assignments.

In my project for unit 3 I did an infographic about identifying & addressing sexism and sexual assault in the workplace. This infographic’s audience was men entering or currently in the workplace. The infographic could be distributed online or posted in public settings. I included the problem, provides “Do/Don’ts”, highlights the importance of training and supporting victims, points to data/statistics, and offers additional resources (through links and a QR code). As a woman entering the workplace soon, I think this information is important to share with male collogues so I (and other women) can feel safe in the workplace.

Thank you Professor Oakes for a great summer semester!

Unit 3 Reflection

This course took me through a range of emotions. Initially, I was very excited to find out that this writing class on organizational culture would have a focus on diversity and inclusion. After all, I am very involved in my company’s DEI committee. How exciting! However, when I learned that we’d be sharing our work on the blog, I was horrified! I hadn’t shared my “in-progress” writing with a group in a very long time. It’s so personal! Nevertheless, it is extremely valuable to give and receive feedback. It makes us all better writers. I also learned so much from my classmates about some issues I knew very little about. After a couple of weeks of reading very interesting articles on diversity and inclusion, I started to feel fatigued by my involvement in both work and coursework as it related to racial equity. So, I turned my focus to non-racial D&I. I wrote about AI and its effects on people who are neurodivergent or disabled and seeking employment. I thought it was an important topic that not many were aware of. It was also an emotional respite for me. Later, after recharging, I knew my research project would need to focus on Black equity and inclusion because it was a part of my life experience. I understood that I would need to make a case for why it was particularly necessary for Black people and would need evidence. This was especially important because I envisioned corporate leaders, who are often data-centric, reading my article. So, I concentrated on seeking out sources that provided data and first-hand accounts showing disparate treatment.

Tackling what many might see as a controversial topic, was going to need planning. For most of my life I just sat down and wrote. I didn’t always have a plan. I wrote, then edited. I didn’t think about all the steps, I just did it. This course forced me (in a good way) to break down my writing and research into pieces and plan it out. I found that the Focusing flowchart, Rounding out the Conversation and Notetaking exercises really helped me. All of these were visual representations of my thoughts and enabled me to see at a glance what I needed to do to firm up my ideas, as well as what wasn’t necessary for my final piece. This course assisted me with honing my skills. I must write grievances when I am acting in my role as a union representative. A grievance generally outlines all the wrongs committed against an employee by management, along with a request for restitution. It’s important to amplify these offenses so that the evidence for restitution seems overwhelmingly in the employee’s favor. I think my time spent on this coursework, and practice with case building, will certainly enhance my grievance writing skills. I have also learned about endurance. I don’t think I’ve ever written this much in such a short period of time, and now I have a new appreciation for those who do it for a living! I have always enjoyed telling a story on paper (or maybe I should say “having a conversation” on paper). A much-loved interest has definitely been reawakened!

Unit 3 Reflection

Initially when I was searching for a topic in Unit 2, I was unsure of what exactly I wanted to research just because I didn’t know if I would be able to find a lot of information. I eventually decided to research the difference between diversity and inclusion because I thought that I would learn a lot through my research, and it would be very important knowledge to have currently and further along in my life. I looked back on the assignments that we had done in this course, and I found that I particularly really enjoyed the ones where we wrote about D&I. I also had a little bit of previous knowledge because last fall I took an African America studies course where we briefly spoke about the differences in the workplace when it comes to minority and majority groups.

            To collect my research in a more efficient way, I used the research tips that I learned in this course such as the subject searching and the cited in methods, we used in our complicating research activity. This was very helpful because prior to this I wasn’t sure how to go about finding relevant sources. I was also able to consolidate the information that I found and connect them to common ideas within my topic. I’ve learned a lot through doing this work. I was always taught that research had to be precise, everything had to connect and that it should be put together in an essay format. After doing this project I’ve learned that there isn’t and shouldn’t be one set way to convey a message. I was able to see the various methods that my classmates used like creating memos, posters etc. I was able to create a Kahoot which was fun figuring out how to do. I also really enjoyed getting feedback from all my peers and being able to give them feedback as well because it allowed me to see the different points of views and how everyone interpreted the assignments and readings differently.

            This assignment is very valuable to me because it has taught me a lot about diversity and inclusion and how to make sure everyone has the proper support, they need to do great things. This is especially helpful to me now since I am an RA and my residents all have different backgrounds and experiences so I need to be aware of ways to make sure everyone feels valued and seen.

            This class has taught me how to work with getting advice from other peers so I can make my work better. Taking this class over the past few months has been a great opportunity for learning and growth. The things we learned in all the units we have covered has provided me with a lot of insight into topics that I never really thought to much about before. The articles that we read about diversity, inclusion, neurodiversity, organizational culture etc. have been very enlightening.

            I also enjoyed getting to see little bits  of my peers, summer through the “highlight of the week” questions. It made this asynchronous class feel a lot more personal and live in a way. Thank you Professor Oakes for your great feedback and encouraging words. Thank you to my peers for your detailed and very helpful feedback this summer. Wishing you all the best and good luck this fall! 🙂

Unit 3 reflection

Moving from Unit 2 to Unit 3, I realized that I had previously focused all my research on looking into the many issues women tend to face in the workplace and how those experiences tend to negatively affect mental health.  I am very glad that I looked into these important matters, but I noticed that I ignored the mental health issues that men often face which, unfortunately, many other people also ignore.  For Unit 3, I chose to solely focus my research on men’s mental health issues and encouraging males, specifically Syracuse college students, to find help if they need it.  Through my investigations I found a wide range of information on the subject due to my focus being very broad.  Therefore, my infographic consisted of imploring men to acknowledge their mental illnesses if they recognize the mentioned symptoms that I included.  After, I put different ways to find help to guide the readers in the right directions to show how accessible the aid can be. 

A lesson that I learned through my work was to utilize the free resources that we as college students have the privilege to access.  Freshman year I never did my research through the Syracuse Library Database because it was an unfamiliar tool, and I did not feel the need to try it.  I regret this decision after using the database this entire summer and quickly finding very helpful articles and scholarly pieces that otherwise would have taken me much longer to find. 

Something else that I took away from this course is that in some cases, a conversational tone in writing can create a better impact compared to an essay that sounds very professional.  I would say that the best advice I received from this unit was to know your audience.  I say this because if the writing is for fellow college students, then there would be no need to make the language more complicated then necessary. 

This assignment held a lot of value for me because I have seen two of my brothers struggle with mental health issues and neglect to reach out for help until it got much worse.  I think that by researching the stigmas behind mental illnesses and why there is a disparity between male and female mental health helped me understand what they went through and are still currently going through.  Writing 205 was very different compared to some of my previous writing classes because we were actually allowed to research things that held interest to each of us individually instead of being forced to write an assignment on something that I did not care about.  For all of my projects I was allowed to narrow down each topic into something I wanted to research and look further into.  The next time I have flexibility in choosing a subject, I will make sure that I pick something that interests me and that I want to learn about more.

Unit 3 Reflection

I have always liked doing research, whether searching for scholarly sources in the library databases for a school project or doing research online for personal reasons. But for any kind of big project, I always enjoyed the hunt for information much more than organizing it. I had never annotated or summarized documents before or thought logically about why I was including one source or another. As we went through the summer, I learned how to categorize and prioritize my sources. I think the “Rounding Out the Conversation” worksheet was helpful because it did reveal some holes in my research as well as some areas where I had too much. Each of the units gave me more tools to try out and habits I will try to continue in the future.

They Say, I Say also changed my way of thinking about writing. I had never thought of writing as a conversation that I was joining. That was eye-opening. I have used sentence starters before, so I loved having a lot more examples of them at my disposal. I will keep that book as a reference for a long time.

One of the things I struggled with in units 1 and 2 was the huge scope of topics like organizational culture or diversity and inclusion. These are important topics, but they also felt overwhelming to me. In the assigned readings, every writer seemed to be making the same argument, only on behalf a different group of people. The only way I could see getting involved in the conversation was through one of my identity categories, which I didn’t feel comfortable doing.

When I read Sherri’s article summary on the ways that online personality tests can be biased, I saw a way into the conversation. Coincidentally I had recently taken one of those types of tests for an online job application, so I could really relate. Like most people, I am simultaneously excited about new technology and scared of it. Artificial intelligence sounds like the perfect solution to so many problems, but will it really turn out that way? I just had to learn more about how it was being used in recruiting and selecting employees, which then led me to see that it is becoming more widely adopted for all kinds of HR functions. I didn’t come into the summer with this interest, but now I’m hooked on it. I saw the AI in HR Resource Center blog not only as a project for this course, but something that I could potentially continue to work on, or at least use in a portfolio someday.

This summer, I feel I took some big steps towards becoming a better researcher and writer, and I got an interesting side project as well. I was impressed by my classmates, their choices, and the passion they brought to their work. I learned from the ideas in their work and the feedback they gave me on mine. We formed our own supportive community, and I was glad to be a part of it.

Thank you, everyone! Have a great fall!

Unit 3 Reflection

As we began our work in this summer, I believed that most of our work will simply revolve around workplace diversity from reading all the assigned articles. But after some time, as we delved into topics that we are personally interested in, it became more interesting for me since we had to connected all the dots, with all our previous readings, and I had to figure out how I can connect organizational culture, diversity, as well as my area of interest, history, into one presentation. And out of all the readings, the book They Say I Say really showed me a new way of writing. I also thought that university-level writing has to be overly complicated, filled with complex vocabulary only professionals in the field will understand. But the conversational style taught in the reading made me understand that the writer has to connect with the reader and that that is the essential point. It became clear to me that whether your style of writing is formal or casual wasn’t the main problem, but how the reader feels in playing a part in the writing as well. Working on this project, I learned to utilize tools that I haven’t used over the few years in Syracuse, especially the Student Library. Since my major is in industrial design, I rarely used the library site until now, and I was really surprised by the amount of information and educating articles that I found. Because of this, I will continue to use tools such as Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge for my future endeavors of writing.

Writing has never been something that I am particularly good at, and my interest in the area was not especially high since rarely did I have the opportunity to express my viewpoints this way. But over the course of this summer, writing so much about my firm belief in the necessity of history education improvement gave me a new confidence in writing, and it is a preparation for me to get my views across in the future, especially in the workplace. Just like I wrote before, my understanding of TSIS changed my overall style of writing as well, and because of that, presenting my point no longer needs to seem like a lecture on paper, but an invitation for conversation. In industrial design, we often learn about the increasing “democratization” of design among the designer and the target consumers, meaning that the field of design is no longer a strictly exclusive group. The conversational style of writing in TSIS is similar, and maybe we are getting closer to the democratization of writing as well.

Although this writing course is only a few months long, and it is very likely that many of us will forget about this class a few years into the future, I think that the content that I researched for my final project and the book TSIS will be a part of me in the coming future. Once an idea is out of your head and placed in solid form, it will stick with you. As for everyone reading this, I hope you will enjoy this coming fall semester and have a pleasant rest of the year.  

Unit 3 Reflection

As I reviewed the unit 2 research, I knew my topic was about invisible disabilities. There were multiple areas of focus that I began to pursue based on the information I was finding. While I knew all of the research was not going to be applicable to my project, it was interesting, nonetheless. For example, I found that the new frontier of working virtually presented exciting new opportunities for individuals with visible disabilities and their ability to now disguise that disability. As I was deciding what would actually make it into the project, I kept the focus of what would help me personally. If the information was relatable then I felt it was something that should be included in the project. I found quite a few videos that visually demonstrated the effect of invisible disabilities on individuals’ lives. I felt this direct exposure to people and their feelings would be useful. The skills from the course that I applied to this were organizing a lot of material in a limited time. I was taking three courses this summer and juggling those along with working and a vacation was challenging. I had to make the most of the time I had. I had to be organized and structured when it came to planning this research. These insights and skills will be valuable as I go into the workplace.

As far as writing, I learned about seeking multiple sources for projects.  I felt I was good at finding peer reviewed sources, but this course had me looking beyond my usual methodology. I found my searches have gained more depth and sophistication. I know that being able to gather information from a wide range of sources may someday benefit me in a future job. This ability would allow me to make decisions quickly and effectively with the appropriate knowledge.

One of the things that I learned about engaging a target audience is translating academic language into everyday speak. Many of the papers that I have written in the past were for an academic audience. I found that this translation helps me discover what I’m truly trying to say. I will say that having my classmates offer their comments on my work was very helpful. I made the comment that I wish they could work with me throughout the next semester, and I meant it! I will say this will definitely be one of the very positive memories that I will take from me in this class.

The value the assignment had for me personally is how to approach invisible disability disclosure literally from a personal level. It was eye opening for me to see how various stakeholders responded to disclosure/nondisclosure. From another lens this course made me rework assignments. Previously, I approached assignments with an attitude of, here’s my hypothesis or title statement. I didn’t change my direction dramatically once I set it. This course has shown me a new way to work through a hypothesis evolution. At times I was frustrated because it seemed like I was done with research, but I was pushed to go beyond surface levels. I also have a better methodology as far as organizing research which I take with me throughout my collegiate and work life.

Unit 3 Reflection

Having the opportunity to take part in this course provided me with skills and thoughts that will impact me for a foreseeable time. I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to take this class. It allowed me to develop several different skills, learn more about writing, and gain value in ideas that can be further developed in the real world.

While completing this course, I was able to develop various skills, especially while developing my project. I often feel as though my papers are too long, with too much information within them. In this class, I was able to create a concise project by trimming out unnecessary details. Understanding how to create a paper takes time. We started this course off by looking at diversity in broad terms. Being exposed to the idea that diversity has numerous definitions allowed me to explore diversity within the workplace. The flowchart in unit 2 was valuable as it allowed me to explore what I was interested in, which is how I landed on female underrepresentation in STEM/finance. Being able to develop my project throughout the course made me realize that patience is crucial. Developing an idea slowly from scratch through flowcharts and various assignments made me realize that creating anything valuable takes time and effort. I think that this is one of the biggest takeaways from this class. 

With the work in this class, one of the thoughts I will be taking with me in the future is that to be successful in writing, you need to be personally invested and interested in it. In my previous writing classes, I was not passionate about the subjects I was writing about. This was because they did not personally impact me. Female underrepresentation, however, has a personal impact on me, which is why I think I enjoyed working on this project. Having passion also goes for figuring out what audience to target in a paper. No one wants to read something unless it personally impacts them, or they find it interesting. Realizing this was helpful when considering my target audience for this project. I thought, who is going to be impacted the most by female underrepresentation in STEM in the future? Then, I realized that this class is full of students who are about to enter the workforce and most likely will be impacted by the lack of diversity within their respective fields (in STEM especially, whether it is female underrepresentation or some other form).

This project gave me numerous sources of value. One of the main things I gathered from this assignment is that writing can be translated into real-world conversations, especially like the piece I wrote. I was in an interview the other day and was able to bring up my paper on female underrepresentation within STEM in a conversation, and it made all the difference. Being able to convey the message that there are many ways to bring about change within an organization was priceless and gave me talking points about important and interesting issues in the world today. Besides being able to develop a conversational writing piece, I also found the process of developing this project valuable. Developing flowcharts, proposing certain ideas, and creating a paper that evolves from previous work made me realize an important idea. Developing something takes time, especially something of value. It is not created in a day. It takes time to research various elements of the subject, develop thoughts and create a well-written paper. It also takes a certain amount of willingness to accept constructive criticism about your writing from others. I am very appreciative of my peers for reading my draft and giving advice on how to make it better.

We started this course off by learning that diversity can be defined in a lot of different ways. Being able to research specific topics that are considered diverse over time (beginning in unit 2) was fantastic for me. Often, I only focus on a subject for longer than a week, so being able to focus on a subject for a couple of months was an interesting and different experience for me. It made me research, develop and think about the topic I was writing.

Overall, this class was so helpful. It combined various skills that I think are important to take into the real world. Whether it be flexibility (accepting others’ advice and being willing to change), dedication to a subject, persistence (continuously improving a piece of writing), and holding a certain amount of passion for what you are working on at that time. I hope that in the future, I can take what I have learned in this class and apply it to future classes and jobs, as I believe that this summer course provided the opportunity to develop certain traits/skills that are beneficial within the real world.

Unit 3 Reflection

When it comes to deciding what to focus on within the larger body of material in unit 2, I found it reasonably trouble-free. While doing my work for Unit 2, there were gaps I found throughout various sources. The most significant gap I saw was the lack of a simple explanation for defining terms. Most sources quickly jumped into more complex analysis when I wanted to find clear and straightforward sources that created a foundation. I knew that for Unit 3, I would discover background, essential information for people my age. This way, a further complex analysis could eventually be understood, and there could be room for educational growth.


The most important thing that I learned while researching for this project, in Units 2 and 3, was that if I wanted to propose precise, foundational work, I had to make my writing clear. Not only did I have to make it clear, but brief and straight to the point. However, I feel as if I did this, but it has always been a struggle that I still have to work towards. I found myself wanting to say so much, but since my infographic/ poster platform does not allow for much room, it was very challenging. I had to include the information that I felt was most important while scratching the data that did not present the same importance. This was very hard since my topic regarding intersectionality and bias is so important. However, thanks to my peers and Professor Oakes, I was able to learn some tricks. I could still include quotes from real people by implementing a QR code, which happened to work out better than including written quotations on the page.


Since my target audience was people my age, I did not have an issue with using a specific tone of voice. I wrote as if I usually would while also addressing the readers using “you” and “we”. I did this to not only keep my poster personable and relatable but to have readers intrigued. When someone talks directly to me, I am bound to listen, whereas if someone is talking to a group as a whole, I subconsciously feel less inclined to listen. I thought this was an interesting tactic because my work does speak to a whole while also directly talking to individuals within it. Writing for this platform felt more normal to me, and I might implement it in my work here at SU. I found it rewarding to engage with people my age and inform them on important issues and fun.


What I valued the most about this work was what I mentioned above, engaging from afar with people my age about critical subjects that tend to be overlooked. I loved it the most because I found a gap within all my sources and created one myself. I was always looking for a clear conception of information that could help develop a foundation, so I tried my hardest to make one myself. If I were not educated on intersectionality and bias, I believe my infographic poster would intrigue me, and I would surely educate myself even more after reading it. However, since I made it myself, this is “biased,” so I hope my students and peers can engage with it and learn from it. That is what is most important, I have found.