I have been writing as a form of expression or simply to alleviate boredom for most of my life. As a child I had quite an extensive vocabulary for my age but it seems to have become more dormant over time. Meaning, there are many words I can read in a sentence and understand, but not as many that I actually incorporate into my speaking or writing, at least not naturally. This is something I have made a point to work on, as I want to not only know the meaning of new words but also to become very comfortable using them. To limit your vocabulary is to limit your expression.
My experience as a writer in college has been a growing experience first and foremost. Being assigned essays and research papers with increasing length requirements does not mean you have a few extra pages to drag on the details and write about essentially nothing; that will get you nowhere. The longer papers require a thorough, thought out, and revised outline. In my experience, the outline takes me the longest out of all the processes. I have to gather my information, consider the thesis, topics, and how I am going to branch out from each individual one. From this point on, the words just come to me, I only need to check in with my outline to keep me on track, and make sure it all flows.
Writing with digital technology poses no threat to me but instead I find it to be a saving grace. My hand tends to get extremely cramped using pen and paper, especially during test scenarios. This greatly affects my ability to focus on my writing. Digitally, the possibilities of what can be achieved (with minimal damage to yourself) are exponentially greater. Often, seeing my work on a digital platform helps me to review and see my piece as a whole, and makes it far easier to catch mistakes.