Final Reflective Letter

This course not only taught me that we do research every day without realizing it, but I also learned that through curiosity comes creativity.  Some processes of telling stories arise from doing research.  From the time of my father’s diagnosis with aplastic anemia, I have always wondered if in fact his disease developed from the over exposure to benzene.  It has been ten years since my father’s diagnosis and I finally have had the chance to explore my unanswered question.

At the beginning of the course, I just expected it to be a regular research writing course.  Remember how horrid writing research papers in high school was?  That’s what I expected.  Coming from a very small school who lacked in teaching us students how to write properly, I had to admit I was dreading it.  I had always had a talent in creating short stories and poetry, but when it came to MLA formatting, I always messed that up.  The last research paper I wrote before this one, I received a low C, and not to mention the hypothesis was so boring.

This course completely changed the way I used to look at writing a research paper.  The step by step processes that were taken helped me to grow as a research writer.  I have to admit that this research paper was nothing like what was expected in high school.  I remember finding book after book and sketchy websites to answer theories about boring topics that were assigned to us.

The semester started out pretty simple for me, until I began this research paper.  Writing this paper was not an easy task for me after I found out that my father had developed leukemia.  He developed leukemia because his aplastic anemia progresses into other diseases.  So not only did I grow as a research writer, but I also matured as a college student.  As much as I wanted to not finish the paper, I had to.  There was not any way I was going to give up on my attempt to answer my thesis question, especially because it pertained to my father.  I also found it important to finish because I feel very strongly about spreading information about the risks of developing this disease.

It is a very serious disease.  A lot of people do not look at it as it should not be taken lightly.  The word anemia makes the disease sound less severe than what it is.  The anemia comes from the lack of red blood cells, but being tired is the least of doctors’ worries.  The bone marrow malfunctions, and without proper blood cells, it’s difficult to survive.

I enjoyed this course.  I’m glad I chose Marlen as a professor.  I am thankful for his consideration of the rough time I was going through.  I’m normally not the student that complains about workloads.  I’m a diligent student and I always have been, whether I wanted to be or not.  The workload in this course did not bother me at all.  I am well aware that everything I learn in college should benefit me in the future, and this is definitely a course that I will make sure I contain my knowledge from.