The experience I had in this course is impeccably valuable.

Moment #1: The TedTalk I watched in week 6 about revision was remarkable. Here it is:

First of all, the introduction to the video was horrible. However, it’s place in the entirety of the video went along with the speaker’s purpose. It is important to not judge oneself from the beginning and be humble enough to completely restructure a composition. It is important to see the magic in the writing process even though it is full of suffering and requires immense diligence. Crucially, judgement needs to be put aside in order to honor the beauty of writing and even one’s potential. The way it relates to my learning in this course is that I selected a difficult topic. I immensely revised my rough draft to create a more structured, convincing argument as my final. It required me to view the writing process as a journey and different points throughout it a step in discovery rather than having a negative mindset. Growth in revision provides a person with so much power, and it is the writer’s decision whether they want to have the courage to tap into it. It is important to not see the struggle involved in revision as a powerful enough factor to not do it. Revision is the gateway to the best version of our writing and the best version of ourselves. As he said, “As a child, I used to imagine what it might be like to grow up and become a writer. I thought maybe I’d write under a beautiful tree on warm days in a lovely field. Maybe I’d use one of those feather pens dipped in dark ink and I would scribble out perfect stories on the first draft. […] Instead, I find myself in laboratories and dungeons ripping out the guts of my writing and stitching together a proper creation. It is important and necessary. Good ideas can get lost or become hidden or never be considered […]”. The way it is going to inform future experiences is that it encourages me to dive into the discomfort. Witnessing oneself do something that is difficult and also brings a beautiful result is invigorating. It is great delayed gratification to watch oneself successfully articulate ideas. I also see the importance of not having self-judgement at any part of my career journey because I am always revising and the key is staying in the process of growth. As long as I continue to revise, I am going to get increasingly stronger and have a magical journey with, in turn, a magical result. The next experience it is informing is my position in a new job that I started two weeks ago. Seeing my position as a stable one for the long run is helping me have self-compassion at the beginning. I keep a calm mindset even as all of the new information is a lot. It is important to both be gentle with oneself and also focus to improve during the revision process so that growth occurs. Since I welcomed revision while writing my thesis, I have no doubt that I can do the same in my current professional situation.

Moment #2:

The next moment happened while reading the peer-review for my rough draft. I appreciated the thorough aspect of the peer-review and also noticed my capability to make the revisions. It was helpful for someone to lay out the revisions in writing so that it all felt less overwhelming. From there, I knew that I could do it. The experience taught me to communicate with other while I am in my journey. Other people want to connect, and it is important to do so with them considering a shared interest in the concept of growth. Brilliant ideas can stem from collaborative revision and the human connection involved in it can be uplifting. Similar to experience #2, I am aiming to apply this to my new job. Coworkers in my department are kindly emphasizing they are supporting me and correspond about how the transition is going. It is important to have the courage to speak to them. Growth is exponentially propelled by connection with other smart people. Surrounding oneself with smart people is important, and then taking initiative to interact with them is also crucial. I look forward to applying the lesson in a variety of contexts throughout the day.

Comment by Jarrett Vigil:

Hey Mary,

The peer review was a very eye opening moment for me as well. These review processes were the first time that I have really reviewed and provided that much depth in feedback for another peer’s paper. This was a helpful step in my learning process because it helped me to be more critical about the structure of my paper by helping other’s with theirs. I also agree that communicating with other peers and the instructor during this process was also very helpful as well. This was definitely the most work I have ever put into a paper and process but it was quite the experience!