Welcome to my ePortfolio! My name is Abbie Preston and I am a senior here at Longwood studying Communication Sciences and Disorders. I have been a student at Longwood University since the Fall of 2016. At school, I am actively involved in the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA); an organization that is explicitly designed for students and preprofessionals studying Communication Sciences and Disorders. When I am not on campus, I work at a retail store in Midlothian, VA. Working at Maurices has allowed me to pursue my education with less of a financial burden and has allowed me to gain essential professional skills. After I graduate this Spring, I will further my education in Longwood’s graduate school program for Speech-Language Pathology in the Fall. Furthering my education will take me one step closer to fulfilling my dream of becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist. Working with children with special needs has been a passion of mine that started at a very young age. With my mother and aunt both being educators, I spent a significant amount of time observing and volunteering in the elementary school setting. This is where I fell in love with Speech Pathology. Many of my mother’s students received speech therapy and the services that they received had a significant impact on their social and academic success. Speech Pathology is a great outlet for me to follow my passion for helping others.
This ePortfolio was created to display some of the major assignments and projects in my Professional Writing Skills course. I will also reflect upon what I have learned throughout the semester and how I have accomplished the course learning outcomes of ENGL 470. Through the correspondence assignments, brochure, press release, and Formal Report Project, I was able to strengthen my professional writing skills and to successfully achieve the learning objectives stated below. This course has allowed me to not only enhance my writing skills in a variety of professional formats, but to become a more diligent and influential professional and leader. As you navigate through this site, you will see examples of the work I have completed during the semester and my overall reflections of each assignment.
Course Learning Outcomes
1. Analyze and produce writing genres commonly found in the professional world (e.g., business, gov., media);
2. Create professional documents that use plain English (clear, concise, and grammatically correct);
3. Conduct research to create content for a variety of professional documents (memos, letters, reports, etc.);
4. Create professional documents that uses design—standard formats, layout, use of graphics, etc.
5. Practice oral communication skills to present content effectively (enhanced with multimedia tools);
6. Participate productively in collaborative projects.