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Kayla Bossart
DAlessio
UWRT 1102-008
18 April 2016
The Final Credits
Looking back at this semester I have changed so much in such little time, as a learner and
as a person. I have never been very good at keeping friends, they would always come and go, so
I was excited to come to college to meet new people. However, first semester was rough; I did
not have many friends, so I consistently sat at my desk doing homework all of the time. I would
do homework from the time I got home, to the time I went to bed. I was a perfectionist so I
would have to make sure everything was just right, which is why I was always up into the late
hours of the night since I was a slow worker. However, this semester I realized that my life
cannot be solely consumed with homework. I need to have a healthy balance of things, which is
why I got my first job as a Certified Nursing Assistant, started going to the gym, and made two
really great friends. Even though I have a busier life now, it has made me happier and I finally
have found how to have a healthy balance, while still getting all of my work done.
Walking into the first day of class of UWRT 1102 with Ms. DAlessio, I figured it would
be similarly structured to last semesters; however, I was totally wrong. Ms. D started to explain
how the course was based off of inquiry, and by the end of the first day I was confused to how
the class would go. I am a numbers person, I do not like the unknown. We were quickly put into
groups for who we would basically be spending the semester with. In our groups we had to

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choose an identity to study and try to figure out what it would be like in their shoes; we chose
veteran studies, focusing on PTSD.
Starting at the very first question session, my group barely knew anything about the
military or PTSD. However, as we did our research and concreted our ideas through the session,
we really began to delve into this identity. We all chose different areas to focus, mine being the
medical implications of PTSD in veterans. Throughout the semester, I thoroughly researched my
area of expertise and was able to further understand this identity. I never realized how harsh of
a stigma there was surrounding this disorder. In my final paper, I discussed this stigma and it
opened my eyes to realize how much the mental health community struggles with this issue.
Some people debate whether PTSD in just in their heads, something that can be simply shaken
off, or whether it is something they cannot help. Through this semester of inquiry I can
confidently say that I believe veterans struggle with this disorder and have to battle to overcome
it through the process of medications and therapy, and with support of family and friends along
the journey. I was able to come to this conclusion due to all of my research and through the
process of making our silent film.
My research was the reason why I was able to enter a veteran with PTSDs shoes as much
as I possibly could. However, I am not the one for the library databases, so given this project I
went straight to government websites such as NIMH and the Veterans Affair site, which both
gave me the bulk of my research. Through the course of my inquiry I found mainly factual
information since my topic was the medical implications, making it so I found little perspectives
on the subject. I primarily searched for the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments of PTSD which
I then had to critically read what I found in order to pick out any bias and the pertinent
information that I was coming across. I was able to quickly find reliable information since it is a

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medical disorder; however, I came across a lot of statistics which was not what I was looking for
in this paper. I mostly pulled information that was direct and descriptive, such as symptoms and
different prescription medications one may take, from select government websites, and further
backed up my conclusions with minor, more specific driven sites that further proved my point.
Overall, finding the evidence I needed was not difficult, but I had to research as I went along
because I was still trying to figure out all what I needed to say.
I believe my research was powerful and I would honestly like to know more about this
identity even after the semester comes to an end. What really surprised me while I was digging
into what veterans with PTSD go through, was how little experience doctors have with this
disorder. Veterans are the main population that develop this disorder, and it is sad that the ones
that fight for our country have to suffer with something that has such a little voice and lack of
knowledge due to it being a mental illness. When I first started my research I was nervous that
we would find a lot of material on PTSD, but not pertaining to veterans; however, this was the
exact opposite, everything was related to this identity. For example, I found a pdf file that was
two hundred plus pages on the Department of Veteran Affairs site. Seeing how much was out
there, I had to quickly narrow my area of study to just the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments,
as well as my two genres. There is so many angles one could take, you could not possibly cover
it all; however I believe I was able to cover the basics in order to get a better understanding of
the medical aspect and process one veteran may take to treat his or her PTSD.
The final paper for this course was like no other. I struggled with the inquiry aspect
and how there was not supposed to be a conclusion with a pretty bow to top it all off. It was
supposed to be opinionated and to further lead to more questions. So the composing process for
this paper was quite rough and not like usual papers. I usually like to bring in a finished copy of

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my work to peer review in order to get the most feedback as possible, however, I was unable to
finish all of my paper for the first session. I only brought in five pages of raw thoughts and after
the first day, the only feedback I received was that my opinion was lack thereof and that I needed
to spruce up my knowledge of conventions where some of my paragraphs were too lengthy,
something I already knew going in. For the second peer review day, I had the paper complete
and had acknowledged the conventions that I struggle with, not splitting up paragraphs, and
inserted my opinion as much as I could. Again, I did not receive the feedback I was looking for.
Turning to Ms. D, she gave me tips to better organize and to fully use my rhetorical knowledge
in my genres. After meeting with her, I was able to cut, move, and perfect my paper to get the
outcome that I desired. I struggled with the conclusion, but when I was finished, it left a cliff
hanger for the audience to ponder. Also, my genre paragraphs were very rough before going to
Ms. D. She gave me direction and helped me figure out the rhetoric behind the genres. I usually
struggle with that, but I believe I have improved this semester and am better able to figure the
rhetor, audience, message, and situation now. Even though I do not usually go about composing
my papers in this manner, the continual edits and revisions are what made my paper to be
something that I was proud of.
This semester was all connected in terms of we had one focus, to understand to the best
of our capabilities what it would be like if we identified with a veteran with PTSD. However,
one cannot fully comprehend what it would be like unless we were sitting in the same boat as
said veteran, which was why this project was so difficult. Most research projects and papers ask
for concrete findings that are set in stone with no opinion or bias, not something that just ends in
more wondering questions. This inquiry project was rather interesting and eye opening as a
researcher and as a learner. Research cannot be so cut and dry if you are trying to empathize

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with someone, it takes using the research and critically reading and reflecting what you have
learned in order to form your own perspective on the topic. One can simply type up a paper full
of facts, but when your opinion is needed, is when you fully understand what you are inquiring.
I believe through this project I learned so much more than if I had to compose a traditional
research paper due to having to critically reflect in order gain a perspective of the identities.
Your evidence had to be so thorough in order to get the best understanding, making the use of the
two genres ever so vital in your research. My genres were both real world examples of a veteran
with PTSD. I had to interpret how these differed through my critical reading and rhetorical
knowledge and apply it to how I viewed my subject. Overall, I believe that I effectively
completed my inquiry project and paper to the best of my abilities to which I feel that I better
understand what a veteran goes through when he comes home from war and is diagnosed with
PTSD.
I learned so much throughout this semester, as a student and as a learner. I believe that
through this year with Ms. D, I have become a confident and stronger writer. I am better able to
express my opinion and my words more thoroughly than I have before, making it easier to
compose papers than it was before coming to college. I think that I have improved so much
because I have had to write so many papers for Ms. D this academic year, practice making
perfection. Writing and critically reflecting takes time and practice in order to improve, and that
is exactly what I did. Throughout high school we were taught the five paragraph essay and how
each paragraph was one sub-topic. Over this course, I realized it is okay to split up paragraphs
even though you will have more than one that is about the same topic. This was hard for me to
comprehend, but after Ms. D read my final paper and explained how I should break them up, I
was actually able to understand how to do this. This class was based off of inquiry and my

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groups choice of study was veterans with PTSD. As this class comes to an end, I am still
intrigued by wanting to learn more about this identity. I was nervous at the beginning of how
this course would go, but it was by far the best English class I have taken. Lastly, Ms. D is an
outstanding professor and has taught me so much this year, she has made me more confident as a
person, not just in my writing.
THE END.