Our first Spring 2020 writer spotlight features Maggie Zhang! You might recognize Maggie from the APUG Club or ISLAND Lab Team. In addition to her OPUS piece, Maggie has just completed her Honors Thesis, titled “Examining Mother-Infant Bio-Behavioral Synchrony in Relation to Chronic Maternal Stress”.
In her last few days as an undergraduate, we asked Maggie to reflect on her experience with OPUS. Read our Q&A below!
What compelled you to submit to OPUS?
“I wanted to keep working on my APA writing skills and OPUS sounded like a great opportunity to improve my writing by receiving consistent feedback on one piece of writing. I also wanted to continue working on my Seminar I paper and explore a topic that I am interested in.”
What was the editing experience like?
“The editing process does take a lot of time but I felt very supported by the editors and it was really helpful having somebody to bounce ideas off of and to get a second opinion from.”
What was your paper about?
“My paper is a literature review that explores how bilingualism can enrich inhibitory control and promote positive emotional regulation development.”
What tips do you have for future writers?
“Writing is a process and producing a paper that you will be proud of does not happen overnight. Embrace the journey, ask people to read your work and take a look at multiple research papers to see examples of different writing styles and structures.”
Would you recommend this experience to others and why?
“I would definitely recommend this experience to others, especially if you’re not too confident with your writing or just looking to improve. It’s a rewarding process to see the piece that you’ve been working on the whole semester published in an online journal!”
The Spring 2020 Issue will be published soon! Check our OPUS website to read Maggie’s piece when it is published.