I have used various programs offered by the Program in Writing and Communication (PWC) to improve my writing and presentation skills. When I began the Ph.D. program, I was excited about learning the technical skills I needed to write models and analyze data. After learning these technical skills, I quickly realized that the complementary skills of describing and presenting my findings were just as (if not more) important. PWC services filled these gaps. In UNIV 602, I learned about the structure of research papers and how to write each section. At dissertation camp, I learned how to write my dissertation and present my research. At the CAPC, I met with various peer consultants to practice and improve my presentation skills. By teaching me the complementary skills of describing and presenting my research, PWC greatly improved my experience at Rice University.

I took UNIV 600 during my first year as a Ph.D. student and looking back, it was the best decision I could have made. Having English as a second language made me insecure about my writing when I first started my academic career, but this course gave me the tools and confidence to undergo all the challenges in academic writing so far. In addition, UNIV 600 covers much more than grammar and vocabulary. One of the most useful topics for me was learning the structure of research papers. It gave me a better understanding of the building blocks of academic writing, allowing me to use the language in more effective and efficient ways, in terms of both word choice and grammatical constructions.

I totally loved my FWIS experience in Time Travel Narratives with Prof. Laura Richardson! We not only had so many insightful discussions/writings about how time traveling reflects on the human's imagination and contemporary world, but also had a lot of fun. Prof. Richardson took us to watch movies, hang out for meals, and even played piano for us outside of class. All classmates from my FWIS became good friends and we all liked the experience very much!

As a computer science major, writing doesn't come easy to me; I was more worried about FWIS than my STEM courses. My FWIS, Post-apocalyptic Literature and Film, helped me become a little less afraid of writing through an enjoyable and fun exploration of my favorite genre.

FWIS courses are more than just your typical writing class. My FWIS focused on all the water issues that our society has to deal with and how they will affect our planet’s future. I learned just as much about writing as I did about issues that our world is dealing with. FWIS courses aren’t just about writing essays like a typical writing course. Rather they focus on content and often achieve this by giving the students lots of fun, educational activities to participate in. In my FWIS, we watched movies, taste tested various brands of bottled water, and got to present about new energy sources for our world. Get ready to enjoy your FWIS and your freshman year!

My Freshman Writing Seminar experience made it possible for me to confidently transition into college-level reading and writing. Although I was initially intimidated upon arriving at Rice to encounter academic texts and writing assignments that were far more complex than anything I had been assigned in high school, my professor broke all of our research and writing tasks down into manageable steps. Overall, my FWIS not only let me study a unique topic, it let me gain skills I have used ever since in all my other classes at Rice.

You can always improve your writing’ is a phrase I’ve heard fairly often from my parents, teachers, and even employers. It’s always possible to communicate more clearly, and that will often set you apart from those around you. My FWIS course at Rice offered the opportunity to improve not only my writing skills but also my writing efficiency. Although I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to starting a writing assignment (as you’ll find most people are), my FWIS professor encouraged us to get over the initial hurdle by pursuing topics of interest. This idea has even spread to different areas of my life, and I encourage you to follow it as well: even the most difficult tasks can be enjoyable if you’re interested in the topic.

My FWIS experience was defined by an unparalleled sense of community. In addition to having a kind and accommodating professor, I had fourteen equally helpful and encouraging classmates whose commentaries challenged my assumptions and beliefs. FWIS was highly collaborative, and through our discussions, papers, and groups projects, I not only developed my critical writing and thinking skills, but also made close friends from many of the residential colleges. There’s something truly genius about combining fifteen strangers, all with different backgrounds, perspectives, and priorities, in an open and communicative environment, and this ultimately made FWIS such a valuable experience.