the PROFiles Blog

Peer Reviews and Critiques

I’ve mentioned more than once on this blog the importance of getting support from my friends and classmates. There’s one particular type of support that’s been especially critical in the last couple of weeks of the semester: the peer critique.

Some teachers encourage students to offer critiques and reviews of each other’s work; others require it as part of your grade. Regardless of whether it’s required or not, however, it’s an extremely useful process. Just within this past week I’ve given three students peer reviews of their papers, and gotten reviews from them in return. The feedback can be extremely helpful in a variety of ways.

For one thing, it always helps to have a second set of eyes to check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. After spending hours writing a paper, it’s easy to miss some mistakes, no matter how thorough you are. Sometimes it’s possible to read a paragraph three times and still miss the mistake, simply because you’re tired, or because when you’ve read something already your brain skips over a lot of it automatically because it’s already familiar. A fresh set of eyes with a new perspective, however, can often find things you might have missed.

Another helpful point can be if you have questions or concerns about your paper, and you’re not sure what to do about them. This can include questions about whether a certain part of the paper makes sense, whether certain things need to be cut, whether some areas need more detail, and so on.

One of the papers I reviewed this week was fairly long, and the student had remarked that he wasn’t sure if some of the content needed to be trimmed down. After reviewing his paper, I was able to offer suggestions about which sections were the most important, and which ones strayed a bit from his central thesis. Hopefully, the suggestions will help him strengthen his paper (and of course, get a better grade).

I’ve had my own issues at times when a paper or short story wasn’t well developed enough, but I wasn’t sure where to focus my efforts. Feedback from other students often proved helpful for me to figure out which sections needed the most development, or which were the most interesting. Sometimes just finding out a certain part of the paper or story grabbed the reader’s attention can help me know which area is the best to expand. The result is a stronger, more engaging read.

Then there’s the possibility that something in a paper is just plain confusing. With research papers in particular, it can sometimes be hard to express a point clearly and concisely. If something needs to be revised and clarified, it’s much better to find out before the paper is handed in to the professor. That way, it can be fixed ahead of time, and it won’t have a negative impact on your grade.

Students can also get help at the Rowan Writing Center. They offer critiques, reviews, feedback, and support for every kind of writing issue you might have. Also, the people working in the writing center are extremely well experienced with writing and critiquing. I know several students in the Writing Arts major who work there. Their help can be especially useful if you’re, say, a math or science major, and you might be better at the technical and mathematical work than at the writing. Of course, I know plenty of Writing Arts majors who would love some help with their math homework, too!

And now that I’ve gotten the feedback I need on my own papers, it’s time to go revise them and get them ready to hand in. Next week is the last week of classes. I’ve got a lot of work to get done between now and then…

Published: April 29th, 2013
Author: Jason Cantrell

Categories: Academics
Tags: Academics, blogs, Community, friends, Research, Rowan, Rowan University, Writing

Trying to Savor the Little Things in Life

This has been a rough week for a lot of people. The news has been filled with difficult and emotionally trying events. People have suffered losses. There have been some tragedies in other parts of the country, and others right here at home. All of that is aside from whatever individual things we might each be going through in our day to day lives.

I’m not normally a “glass is half full” kind of person, but there is one thing I’ve learned that helps a great deal when going through times like these. To enjoy the simple things in life.

Today I was feeling down, and one of my friends at Rowan brought me a box of mini cupcakes. It was a small gesture, but a very thoughtful one. Did it fix all of the problems in my life, or the world? No. I might still be worried about anything from the events in Boston to my own personal problems. But what it did do was to bring me some comfort. There’s something precious about knowing there is someone who cares enough about you to think of you and make a gesture like that. That’s part of what friendship and community are about. It’s not always about solving problems or finding a way to make the world a better place. Sometimes it’s simply about standing together, for strength and unity.

Sometimes there’s other, even simpler things that can bring a smile to your day. It might be the stories of the heroic people who rushed to help the victims of the Boston bombing; people who show the best side of humanity at a time when they’re facing the worst. It might be seeing people at Rowan collecting for charities and raising awareness for important issues. For me one of the nice little uplifts today was simply running into an old friend on campus who I hadn’t seen for quite a few months; it was a good chance to reconnect and talk about some lighthearted things. Or it could even be something as simple as someone telling a corny knock-knock joke on Twitter.

So if you’re having rough times, be it in work, school, life, or the events going on in the world, try to remember to stop for a moment and lose yourself for a short time in the simple things. Find someone to talk to. Meet up with some friends. Tell a joke. Get together with a study group on campus. Any little thing that can help lift you up, and remind you that you’re part of a community.

Published: April 23rd, 2013
Author: Jason Cantrell

Categories: Social Life
Tags: blogs, Community, Culture, friends, Rowan, Rowan University, Student Life

Countdown to Graduation

With just over a month left in the semester, many students are thinking about final papers, projects, and exams. Some are likely thinking about what they plan to do over summer break. Others are registering for summer classes. Seniors like me, however, already have our sights set on graduation.

After four years (or more than that, in my case as a nontraditional student), graduation is more than just the end of college. It’s a huge accomplishment. It’s the day when all the hard work, late night study sessions, long projects, and exams finally pay off. It’s a major source of pride, especially considering how many people in the world might never go to college. Working so hard to accomplish something many people don’t is an achievement that earns you a well-deserved sense of honor. Everyone who makes it that far deserves a hearty congratulations.

Graduation time also means… graduation parties! A friend of mine just invited me to hers, and I’m very excited. It’s a big deal for all of us who are graduating together this semester, and I’m glad to have the chance to share the celebration with the same people I’ve shared my college experiences with. I hope there’s cake.

These connections with my fellow graduates might also be helpful for my future career. After graduation comes the job search, and knowing other professionals in the same field as me can be extremely good since we might be able to share job leads and information with each other. I’ve already connected with some of my fellow Rowan students on professional networking sites like LinkedIn, and I keep in touch with a lot of them on Twitter. I’m hoping for these connections to grow stronger over time, both to maintain the friendships and to develop a strong professional network.

And of course, for me, graduation day isn’t actually the end of school. I’m applying to Rowan’s graduate school program to get my Master’s degree. This means more time in school, but of course there will be a lot more to learn and a lot more career options available once I’m done. And since Rowan has a wide variety of post-graduate programs available, there are options there for any student who wants to get the most out of their education experience.

For everyone out there, whether you’re about to graduate, continuing on to grad school, or getting ready to start your first semester of college this fall, let’s hope for a great summer ahead.

Published: March 31st, 2013
Author: Jason Cantrell