The process of writing the literature review was much more difficult than I had anticipated. Going into it, I remember thinking, “How hard can it be?”; after all, it is just summarizing existing literature, right?

How wrong I was.

My troubles started when I realized that my initial topic, carbon sequestration and its various types and techniques, was too broad. Even a mildly in-depth literature review of the subject matter would exceed the limit of six pages. Forced to narrow the scope, I chose to focus on a single type of carbon sequestration, biological sequestration.

Crisis averted. Or so I thought.

As I began to explore peer-reviewed sources for this specific topic, I quickly became confused by the complex technical language that pervaded all of the papers. Not one to shy away from any challenge, I spent hours learning the definition of various terms, concepts, and processes to get a solid understanding of the topic and related journal articles.

This came at a price. While composing the literature review, I perceived that my writing was overly scientific. It was challenging finding a proper balance between being overly detailed and writing merely an unspecific overview of the topic.

Given these troubles, it must be understandable why I felt some relief upon completing the assignment. Oddly enough, however, I also had an overwhelming sense of delight. It was perhaps because in overcoming the unique challenges writing this literature review posed, I proved to myself that I could push past my limits; that I am more capable than I think.