Our next spotlight features former Inside Scoop mentor Olivia Matthes Theriault!
What compelled you to submit to OPUS?
“I wanted to strengthen my writing skills. I felt my message wasn’t always clear to readers and I wanted to make sure that I was getting my points across as effectively as possible.”
What was the editing experience like?
“Really hard! I had very extensive edits to do and it required me to rethink my research question and to return to the literature over and over and over again. Sometimes it was very frustrating but ultimately my paper is better because of it.”
What was your paper about?
“Restraint and Seclusion Use in Psychiatric Inpatient Settings. The piece explores how effective the use of restraint and seclusion practices are in patient recovery and then concludes in an interview that explores alternative practices that could be less harmful to patients.”
What did you gain from this experience?
“My writing has improved immensely. I somehow managed to not write that many essays in college and I felt that it showed in my writing ability. This experience helped me catch up to me peers in that regard. I also learned a lot about how to not take criticism personally.”
What tips do you have for future writers?
“Do not underestimate the time commitment of meaningfully contributing to OPUS! I thought this was gonna be a few rounds of edits but my paper would ultimately be more or less the same. I was wrong. I would also recommend that whatever piece you submit you really care about. You spend a lot of time with it and unless you think what you have to say is interesting or important it can get tedious really quickly.”
Would you recommend this experience to others and why?
“Absolutely! I am better for it and I am way more comfortable with academic writing than I was before this process.”
The Spring 2020 Issue will be published soon! Check our OPUS website to read Olivia’s piece when it is published.