When someone hears the words research paper, they usually say to themself; here we go again, more useless work, lacking no purpose, taking up my time, dealing with a topic that I have no interest in, and trying to find just enough sources to keep the teacher happy. I have to admit, I am guilty on all accounts. Throughout my high school career this was my attitude towards writing most of the research papers that I was assigned.
It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I started to see the light. During my senior year I was forced to take two English classes in order to fulfill my core class requirements for college entrance. Who would have thought that an overdose of English and having to constantly write, would actually help me to respect, appreciate, and enjoy the process of research and writing. Th
e more time that I spent enduring the process, the easier it became and the more I enjoyed researching a new topic and then writing about what I had discovered.
The benefits of this process far out way the discomfort that is created when we worry about the extra work, time, or just worrying about our grade in the class. Once I realized that the process is equally important as the outcome, it was easier for me to see the benefits doing a research paper. The more time I spent researching and writing papers the more I realized that this process could be applied to any subject or issue and could be used formulate a thought, validate a position, or to solve a problem. The process of writing a researched paper is something that we can use in almost any career path that we might choose.
Research papers are a great way of learning how to approach a problem, subject matter or an issue and then gather material and conclude your findings. This process helps us to have a better understanding of the topic and to validate our conclusions with documented sources. Research papers also enable us to learn the material and have a better grasp of the information. Learning the process, researching the material and writing down our findings is something that we can all utilize in many avenues of work and life.