Research Paper Reflection Essay

Anja Mayr

Jessica Pisano

Lang 120

7 April 2014

Reflection Essay

When I began working on my research paper I had a feeling of dread.  I hated writing research papers! I have always found that I write best when I am able to add my own opinion to the piece of writing.  It is also not much fun to write about something that you have little connection with.  I thought that this research paper would elicit these feelings, even though I was interested in my topic.   What I did not expect was that this to be one of the most challenging papers I have ever had to write, but it was not because I did not enjoy writing it, rather I cared about it so much that I wrote multiple drafts and was constantly revising, editing, and thinking of ways I could make this paper the best that it could be. 

            The first step of the research paper is to inquire. I began my inquiry by trying to find the best search term for my topic.  This seems like a simple task, but it ended up being much more difficult then I had originally planned.   I knew I wanted my research paper to be something about why Girls On The Run is an important program and how it positively affects young girls lives.  From my experience with Girls On The Run I knew there were many ways that is was beneficial, but what was the biggest most important one that could be measured through an experiment?  I finally landed on self-esteem.  Self-esteem is one of the biggest effects Girls On The Run had on these girls and it was fairly easy to measure and physical activity is a big part of how Girls On The Run positively effects these girls.  I finally had a search term that yielded many results, I used “self-esteem and physical activity and children.”  I found many sources, but a lot of them were repetitive and some of them I was not able to access. I ended up finding a the majority of my sources through the library database; it just took a little digging.  I found this step of the research paper interesting and not too frustrating. 

            Applying the research that I found, was by far the most challenging part of the research paper process, I knew what idea I wanted to support and I knew the research I found supported it, but I could not figuring how to format the information I found into a paper.  It took a lot of planning and rewriting, but I finally found a style of organization that worked.  Applying all of my research was a very tedious process and was the longest parts of the research paper writing process for me and also the most frustrating.  I often had to cut different paragraphs and paste them in other places to help the research paper flow.  Making the research paper flow was very challenging because I often ended up just listing facts and did not connect it very well to the rest of the paper. 

            Reflecting on the paper was very beneficial part of the writing process for me.  After the peer review I ended up reviewing my whole paper and finding things that my peer reviewer did not even mention, but I found would be best to change.  I really benefit from a multiple step writing process. Something that really clicked for me after my first revision was the conclusion.  I ended concluding with the “I feel…because…I would like you to…” statement, which is now one of my favorite parts of the essay. After my wring conference I revised my paper and found that I was so invested in the paper and wanted to make it the best that I could make it, so I asked for another revision, which really helped me see problems with some of my writing habits that should be changed for this paper and in the future.

            Usually communicating my ideas is the hardest part of writing for me, but I felt in this paper it was pretty easy to do.  By the end of the paper I felt I had successfully conveyed my thoughts and ideas effectively.  I think the format of the research paper allows for an effective way to communicate ideas.

            Overall this was one of my favorite writing assignments I have completed.  Though it was difficult and time consuming I felt I learned a lot from writing and reflecting on this paper.  I discovered some of my writing habits that I need to break, but also gained some confidence in my writing in other areas.  I feel proud of my research paper now.  I put a great deal of effort into it and I hope it shows through the paper.