College Writing Review

As a second semester senior, I have done a LOT of writing throughout the last four years. Because I am a Microbiology major, the writing I do is often tailored specifically to scientific manuscripts. Writing in a class like this one is a lot different than writing for my science classes. Writing in microbiology is governed by an insane amount of rules. Sentences must be kept succinct and detached, practically everything must be cited within the text and in an intensely tedious manner. All of it is very formal, very informative, and really incredibly boring to do (haha, but really).

Most of my labs for my major have been pretty writing intensive, so I've had a LOT of practice with scientific writing. Outside of my major I haven't taken a lot of really intensive writing classes (because all of my other classes are already so intense and I don't fancy the idea of making my class schedule any more miserable than it already typically is, haha). This class and a classics class I took called Greek Tragedy (everyone should take this, Ellen Greene is the best and will change your life) are probably the two classes outside of my major that I have had to write the most for, and I've actually really enjoyed both. It is nice to get to escape from the monotony of science writing and get a chance to explore writing creatively.

I have especially loved this class because it has allowed me to explore and rewrite so many of my favorite stories. I don't often get a chance to be creative like this, so the storybook project has been really exciting, and such an awesome experience. I would love for everyone to have the opportunity to create a storybook like we have in this class. It is such a great way to explore your interests, your creativity, and to learn about stories all over the world.

On another note, I was actually thinking just last week about having a required writing class for science majors. We currently don't have anything like that, which honestly is pretty stupid. Science writing is really hard because there are so many rules, and it has such a distinct style (distant and terse) that most people are not used to writing with. When you have to write your first scientific manuscript, it's really hard, really scary, and you feel completely lost because you've never really learned what to do. Your professors give you a brief little presentation, tell you the title of some microbiology writing standard books, and send you on your way. It's really overwhelming, and not super helpful. I think providing a class that distinctly focuses on how to write science manuscripts, review articles, etc. would be so helpful, and an easy way to increase student success, especially because it is such an important part of classes and the real world of science.

Sheldon Cooper (also RIP Leonard Nimoy)