Through these reflective exercises, I have identified my capricious learning style and my self-doubt. This assignment has forced me to appreciate my accomplishments and mindfully monitor my emotions as they impact my education. As a result, I recently recognised the source of my self-doubt regarding academic writing as I watched Finding Dory.

I experienced persistent doubts regarding my academic writing and learning process despite receiving good marks.  I utilised resources such as DCU’s writing centre to strengthen my writing and assuage my doubts. Engaging with these resources, furthered my uncertainty as my unconventional approach to assignments differs significantly from the suggested process. DCU’s writing tutors advocate a very traditional approach to essays; read and take notes, research and expand the notes, outline, write, rewrite, and edit. I find the recommended process tedious and become frustrated and distracted when attempting to adhere to that system. My personal writing process is not linear, allowing me to toggle amongst tasks and thereby sustain my interest.  Firstly, I  examine the specification, identifying the assignment topic and creating a three-week writing schedule (Evidence 1, Example Assignment Schedule). Secondly, I create a rough outline using the questions or subheading suggested within the specification. Thirdly, I read journal articles pertinent to the topic. When I encounter unfamiliar terms or theories within the articles I refer to the module text. Often the units are insufficient to supplement my understanding, resulting in the utilisation of other resources such as online academic lectures (Evidence 2, Sociology Lecture - Marx). In this way, I broaden my knowledge through multiple sources and gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic. During this step, instead of taking notes I draft the assignment by writing to the outline. Inevitably, there are frequent rewrites facilitating revision of the module text and deepening my grasp of the topic. Finally, after completing the first draft of the assignment, I ignore it for a few days. Allowing time to elapse between composition and editing fosters objectivity. Therefore, it is easier to delete or rewrite portions of the assignment to which I was emotionally attached. Despite my continued success with this process, persistent doubt affected my confidence. I struggled to find the source of my uncertainty until I watched an animated film in which a character embraced their alternative way of processing information.

In Finding Dory, the title character must trust her unique instincts in order succeed at tasks. She has short-term memory loss which worsens with stress. At the end of the movie, Dory gets lost, panics, and doubts herself. However, when she self-soothes and trusts her instincts, Dory effectively employs problem-solving skills and finds her family (Evidence 3, Dory Finds her Confidence).

Upon watching Dory embrace her confidence, I had an epiphany. I must stop panicking every time I face a new academic challenge. Like Dory, I must calmly and confidently navigate higher education using my unique skills and abilities, thereby tailoring learning to my needs. My self-doubt is a reflection of my belief that I am too unconventional for academia. From that belief, I extrapolated my process was wrong because it deviated from the systematic method others successfully employ. That view has changed; I now value my individual learning style and believe it is a strength.