Reflection of Research Paper

Coming up with a topic that was  out of the ordinary was the first major step for this paper. I chose the topic of whether or not college athletes should be payed because I knew that it would interest many people and others would have specific views on this as well, I've also played sports my whole life so I knew that I could relate to this in some ways. I also knew that this was a very hot topic in the recent years and is continuing to grow. When I thought of the topic I had to give it some thought but I quickly figured out my stance behind it which was that student athletes should not be payed for playing sports for the university. After I came up with a topic I my next step was too find out as much information on this topic as I could. From NCAA rules and regulations, to views of many others on this topic who take the same side as me and the opposing views as well. Then I needed to organize all of this information in a way that would make my stance on the topic clear, along with how and why I chose the side that I personally do not believe college athletes should be compensated. That part was easy, but the hard part was using the opposing views to benefit my side and explain what harm could come from paying these athletes. I also knew that my bad habits of repeating myself would come into play later on in my paper if I wasn't careful.
This is a very different type of paper when comparing it to the informational report earlier this semester. My opinion comes into play in the research paper a lot more than in the informational report. In the information report I was just informing the audience of information that I gathered without telling my side and trying to argue my point. But from both of these papers I had to gather lots of information for the writing process.
After writing my research paper I learned how to use the opposing view to support my stance on the topic, but to do so in a way that does not discourage their views. I also learned that looking at both sides of the topic helped me decide my stance and how I was going to portray it clearly to the audience.