Montaperto 1

Nick Montaperto
Ms. Hofmann
English 1102:057
18 April, 2014
Inquiry Reflection
Back in late February and early March, I was just starting to consider research topics for
the inquiry project. I initially started off with researching tourism in Aruba. But upon stepping
back and looking at the research done, I quickly realized that was a mistake. In class I was asked
about my research topic, and I explained I chose Aruba because I got Vitiligo after my trip there
and it ended up being a huge part of my life. Upon Ms. Hofmanns suggestion, light bulb then
went off in my head that I wanted to research Vitiligo. I wrote the initial proposal letter thinking
that the paper would be a traditional research paper, so I focused on a wide variety of topis
involving Vitiligo. But the trip to the library cleared all that up for me and I was able to polish
the proposal down into the gem that the final inquiry project was going to be. After the library
trip, I knew what I had to do and didnt need to change or alter my path.
The process of my research was a relatively straight forward and uninteresting process. I
used academic search complete in the UNCC library program. Keywords Vitiligo, mental, and
effects turned up about 20 articles in the database and I skimmed through the abstracts of the first
15 articles. Most of the articles I chose were reports on studies done in various counties, with
varying cultures, and on different age groups and genders. I was citing sources from German
children to Indian women and I felt that this diversity in information would best help me write
the inquiry paper. Being able to read and understand the statistical evidence recorded by
professionals in the dermatology field was a very eye opening experience.
Montaperto 2

The effects of my research on my direction were minimum but the effects on me
personally were more moderate. I knew exactly what I was looking for when I was finding my
sources. I knew I wanted studies done in different countries, but I wasnt expecting it to hit home
as much as it did, especially the German study on children. After typing my paper, I did realize
that I had never explained what Vitiligo was to the people who had no idea what Vitiligo was. I
was so focused on studies that I forgot that not everyone knows what Vitiligo was. In conclusion,
I knew what I was looking for in terms of information, but I was so focused on finding
information that the mental impacts of the research and realized that no one else knew what
Vitiligo was took me by surprise.
My essay is a very standard looking essay in terms of appearance. I have a header, page
numbers, and title. But, unlike most research papers, I tried to put as much of me into the paper
as I could. My first sentence: Hello my name is Nick, and I have Vitiligo served to shed light
onto my more light hearted personality and also alluded to the psychological impacts of Vitiligo
by comparing it to a support group. Throughout the paper, I try to include as many personal
stories at appropriate places. I want to show the reader that I have a strong connection to the
topic and I dont want the reader bored out of their mind reading the paper.
My critique group ended up being critical to my paper. I had the paper all planned out
and typed. I had the in-depth articles sourced and the complex terms typed. I handed my paper
over to my group and was quickly brought down a few steps. This is great and all but what is
Vitiligo? To my dismay I realized that not everyone had the same knowledge on the disease as I
had. They said the paper looked professional and well written, but they had no idea what they
were reading. After laughing at myself for not explaining the very rare disorder to the readers I
was able to go back and explain what I was going on about.
Montaperto 3

This inquiry project has been very similar and kind of different to most papers I wrote
back in high school. I was used to writing professional sounding, medium length papers based on
research. But, I had never written a pure inquiry paper, most of the papers I had to write in the
past were position papers. I didnt like the nitty-gritty defense aspect of the paper. So just being
able to research Vitiligo in order to give the reader more information was very exciting. I feel I
was able to retain more information this way.
What I learned? This is a tough one. I didnt learn anything about Vitiligo itself and I
already had a rough idea of the psychosocial effects of Vitiligo just because I grew up with it.
But, all the studies did give me different views on people from different places and ages. It some
instances I learned a lot (like how Vitiligo is viewed in India) but other articles (like the German
study on children) served asa trip down memory lane that made me kind of depressed. I was able
to learn a lot more about past me however, I learned why it was effecting me and that it was
normal.