Nailing That Essay
Now that the Spring semester has begun and it’s almost time to begin thinking about the courses we might have ahead of us, I thought I’d share one of the resources that has helped me most in the last year or two of my degree.
Writing, especially academic writing, can be extremely challenging even for the best of students. It is a skill that can be time-consuming to complete well, but can be significant in determining our academic “success”. Despite overall enjoying writing, it is something that I still struggle with at times academically, often finding myself unmotivated, bored, and overwhelmed when tasked with writing endless papers.
Image by Gaelle Marcel on UnSplash
After two years of disregarding my professors’ recommendations during syllabus week to check out the many writing resources available on campus, last year I took the time to really discover the Centre for Academic Communication, or CAC, and take advantage of its services.
The Centre for Academic Communication provides a wide variety of resources for students, from tutoring to writing workshops, but the one service I’ve discovered and really appreciate is the online written feedback on writing assignments. In my geography and political science degree I have to do a lot of writing assignments, especially at the end of the semester when I usually have multiple final papers due. When I have so many papers and written assignments due at once, I’ve found submitting my drafts to the CAC for feedback has been a really simple and easy way to get some quick constructive criticism on my work. You can create an appointment to receive written feedback by signing up for an account on the CAC webpage and following the instructions for booking an online feedback appointment. It saves me time and energy, teaches me new things, and helps improve my writing.
Overall I’d recommend the Centre for Academic Communication for anyone who wants to improve their writing, either personal or academic. This is one of those things that I wish I’d found earlier in my degree… it would’ve saved me a lot of stress and energy!
