LibermanLEDU7001-1

BacktoBasics
LeilaLiberman
NorthcentralUniversity
April2015

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BacktoBasics
Developingandwritingpaperscanbecomparedtocakedecorating.Themore
cakesyoudesignanddecoratethebetteryouget.IhavefoundthistobetrueasIhaveI
lookedatmyselfoverthepastfouryears,andseenhowmywritinghasimprovedwhile
earningmyMastersDegree.Inthispaper,Iwillmorecriticallyexaminevariousaspects
ofmywritingskillstodeterminewhereimprovementisstillneeded,andhighlightareas
notneedingsomuchfinetuninginordertobecomeabetterscholarlywriter.
TypesofWritingIhavedoneThusFar
In my academic career, and throughout my educational endeavors, I have had
many writing opportunities. I have mainly completed written assignments for my
Masters courses and my Capstone paper, while attending the University Maryland
University College (UMUC). A review of all of these writing efforts provides ample
source material to demonstrate my writing progress over these past few years. Allofthe
paperswrittenformyUMUCclasseshavebeenofascholarlynature.Ihavedeveloped
andwrittenmanylectures,podcasts,andvideopresentationsformydentalcourses.
Thesecoursesaremainlydesignedtotargetthefirstandsecondyeardentalstudents.The
highlightofmyacademicwritings,thusfar,hasbeenthedevelopmentofelecturesand
theWeeblywebsitewhichIcurrentlymaintainforourdentalstudents.
HowMyPastWritingCompareswiththeTypeDescribedintheText
All of the papers which I have written, while pursuing my Masters Degree at
UMUC, have followed the APA writing style. Each paper submitted followed the 6th
edition of the APA Manual and was graded using this format. A requirement of my

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Masters Program at UMUC was that all assignments had to be reviewed by a writing
coach prior to being delivered to the professors. At the start of my pursuit for a Masters
degree, the amount of negative feedback comments from the writing coach numbered in
the high 50s. This was very discouraging for me. I was able to overcome the incompetent
feeling with the help of my mentor. I have a personal mentor, Angela Dudley, RDH, MS,
CHES, and she helped me to find some positives in all the writing coachs comments. By
the end of my tenure at UMUC, the negative comments from the writing coach had
substantially decreased, evidence that my writing skills improved immensely. To
complete the analogy of cake decorating and paper writing, it is clear that when I began
each of these endeavors, my efforts were less than ideal. When decorating a cake, my
piped lines were wavy instead of straight, and my flowers were not smooth and
symmetric. Similarly, my papers, initially, had numerous errors in writing style, grammar
and punctuation. Improving my skills in both arenas is always, and will continue to be,
my goal. Now, however, I can say, with a measure of confidence, that after years of
practice, designing and creating cakes for a multitude of events, and writing numerous
papers, my cakes are more show-case ready and my papers are more appropriate for a
beginning doctoral student.
MyGrammarSkillsBasedontheCapitalCollegeTutorialQuizzes
Based on my past written papers and comments from my mentor, I honed in on
verb usage and comma usage since these areas where noted as being particularly
problematic. I took a considerable number of grammar quizzes through the Capital
College website and scored rather poorly on my initial tests. The quizzes on which I
scored low and needed improvement were subject-verb agreement and verb-verb strings.

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I took the quizzes on irregular verbs and was surprised I scored in the 70% range.
Comma usage is always a challenge when I hand in my paper to my Mentor for review.
Surprisingly, I scored in the high 70s on the comma splices quizzes. I think my mentor
would be proud! Fragmented sentences are usually not an issue with my writing;
however, I scored in the high 70s here as well. Moving up the grading scale, I found that
working with irregular verbs was not such a challenge, scoring in the mid 80s on the
quizzes. Overall, more understanding and close examination of my usage with verbs is
needed prior to delivering my paper to my mentor. My competence with comma usage is
commendable, yet could still use some work. This is the first time that I have ever done a
self-test related to grammar skills. I knew I struggled with verbs, but seeing it as a grade
and not from my mentor was more of an eye-opener.
HowIFeelAboutWriting
WhenIstartedmytenureforahighereducationdegree,Ihadnoideahowmuch
writingwouldberequired.Iwasquicktolearnthatapproximately97%ofeachcourse
wasbasedonwrittenpapersubmissions.IknewfromthestartthatIwasapoorwriter.
WhenIwasearningmyBachelorsDegreeinDentalHygiene,myfatherwasthereto
helpwithmypapers.KnowingIwasgoingtoneedhelpinmygraduateeducation,Iwent
tomyadvisorfromdentalhygieneschool,whoisalsomygoodfriendandcolleague.She
nowholdsthemainroleasmypersonalmentor,motivatorandsupporterwhileseeking
highereducationdegrees.DuringmyschoolingatUMUC,Angelasmainfocuswasto
reviewmyassignmentspriortohandingthemtothewritingcoach.Onceagain,whenI
decidedonattendingNorthcentralUniversity(NCU),Iaskedherforhelp.Soyouask,
howdoIfeelaboutwriting?Well,itisachore,andanobstaclethatItakeonwithacan

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doattitudeandawillsucceedbelief.SometimesIseewritingandresearchingasa
game.ThisisagameinwhichIcansetmyownpersonalrewardsandwin,similarto
producingthemostdetailedandspectaculardecoratedthemecake.
HowthisCoursewillEnhancemyWritingSkillsandAttitudetowardWriting
Iwelcomethiscoursewithitscloseexaminationofmywritingabilities.Iknow
thatIfrustratemymentor,andthiscourse,Ipray,willhelptolowerthatfrustration.Isee
thiscourse,withthereviewofgrammarusageandunderstanding,asgoingbacktohigh
schoolandrelearninghowtowritebettersentenceswhicharemoreconciseanddirect.
MyunderstandingofAPAcitationshasimprovedovertheyearswithregularusage.I
participatedinafacetofacecoursegivenatUniversityofMarylandBaltimoreslibrary
onAPA,whichclearedupquestionsandmisunderstandingsthatIhad.Iknowthatmy
dissertationwillbehundredsofpageslong.StartingthisprogramatNCU,withareview
ofmywritingcompetency,isachallengewhichIwelcomeandwholeheartedlyembrace.
Conclusion
Decorating cakes for all occasions is fun and exciting! When looking back at past
cake pictures, I can see how my cakes have developed into a more detailed and
presentable piece of work. The same can be said for the papers I have produced over the
past few years. The more papers with which I am tasked, either for academic
advancement, research or advancement toward my doctoral degree, the better I will
become. This I know and absolutely believe. Verb tense and subject-verb agreement have
been a challenge for me. Reviewing the interactive grammar website, I will be more in
tune to making better grammatical choices. This course, Advanced Scholarly Writing,

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which is required by NCU will help me to become a higher quality, scholarly and more
proficient writer.
References
Capital Community College Foundation. (n.d.). The guide to grammar and writing.
Retrievedfromhttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index2.htm