For your first post to our course blog, I’d like you to get into pairs and interview one of your classmates. Using the questions we generated together as a class, take about ten minutes to ask your classmate more about him- or herself. In addition to the usual questions about who he or she is, where she or he is from, or what he or she does for fun, please pay particular attention to this person's past experiences as a writer. What does your classmate remember about his or her previous writing instruction? What kinds of writing appeals (or doesn’t) to your classmate? Why? What meaningful or significant experiences has he or she had with writing? What hopes (or reservations?) does your classmate have about this course?
Once you complete both interviews, spend the next 20 minutes writing a profile (aim for 250-350 words) that vividly represents your classmate. Whatever issues you focus on, take care with this short piece, for it is our first impression of you as a writer, as well as the first impression of the person you interviewed. Have fun with this piece—make it interesting! Use quotes, brief stories, and any other vivid details you can discover to enrich your profile of this person.
Even though I have known Joe Tripp since the first night of Orientation Week, each day I learn something new about him. Being together in our FSEM, I was fortunate enough to listen to some of his ideas and hear his opinions of a multitude of issues, each time being impressed with the candidness and frankness in his approach to life. When he says that he will do something, he does it. Joe finds much of his strength in the relationship that he has with his family and from his upbringing. I see honesty and frankness as his most important strengths and some of his most valued tools.
ReplyDeleteAs an Engineer, Joe sees the world as numbers and movement. He finds that the precision of mathematics describes the world in a objective manner, removing the subjectivity of human language. He explained this to me with the example of how everybody recognizes the number 512 as 512, but that not everybody will recognize a word, like “defense” the same way. For this reason Joe finds himself frustrated with writing because of it’s subjectivity, and it’s seeming inability to adequately express his ideas. His most valued and best piece of writing was a sermon that he delivered to his church congregation in his senior year.
Joe is the kind of person who thinks for himself, he does not let other people tell him what to believe or what is right. He thinks and finds answers to life’s questions on his own, not relying on tradition to define how he thinks.
Aisling Gould was drawn to the University of Denver--"a smaller school in a big city"--from her home state of South Dakota (which, she hastens to add, is "not as rural as people think.") She attended a Catholic high school, graduating in a class of about 60. This high school experience, of course, came along with its distinct culture; since she has been in college, Aisling feels her “eyes have been opened to new opportunities” and different types of people.
ReplyDeleteAisling, a self-described “people person,” is pursuing a degree in DU’s school of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. She does not necessarily have an “ideal” career in mind, but her future lifestyle must fulfill one criterion: it has to allow her the freedom to travel. International travelling has been an integral part of her background, and, as she imagines the future, she does not see herself being anchored to a single place. Of the numerous countries she has already visited, her favorite destination is the Mediterranean, particularly the south of France. The fact that she is proficient in French lends to this appeal. However, she is mostly enamored with the natural beauty of the region. The Mediterranean landscape, she says, is characterized by “colors you don’t even see here [in the states].”
Aisling feels confident in her technical skills as a writer. She hopes, through Honors Writing, to gain more confidence in sharing her ideas candidly with others, and thus to further her expressive power in the written medium.
Jaron Curtsinger grew up in a family which placed a significant emphasis on being involved in the surrounding community. Given that his father is a teacher and his mother works for a non-profit organization, their focus on education and the community has had a substantial impact on Jaron’s interests today. He is majoring in International Studies and Economics and enjoys thinking about these topics in depth. In the past, these interests have been demonstrated through his participation in speech and debate, direct service non-profit organizations, and philanthropic groups. He feels that his interests can be realized on a global scale through International Studies. In fact, Jaron was drawn to the University of Denver because of the International Studies major here. However, this was compounded by the atmosphere of Denver which perfectly combines a metropolitan environment with nature.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of writing, Jaron knows exactly what he does and does not like. He favors structured, organized, research based writing over any other style, especially fiction. He likes the rules which come with writing formal pieces. The piece he is most proud of ever having written is an extended essay that he wrote at the conclusion of the IB program in high school. This mini-dissertation style paper was research based and covered the public policy of affirmative action, further illustrating his interests.
While he is very explicit in describing his favorite types of writing, Jaron is more undecided on less scholastic subjects. He does not know where he would travel if he could go anywhere in the world. He says he has never really thought about this because he is focused on school at the moment. However, he knows that he wants to experience an exotic culture when he travels abroad. Jaron has no idea what he would like to be when he graduates using his interests. Nonetheless, Jaron showed a less academic side of himself when he mentioned that his favorite animal is the koala because they are “so funny and are high all the time” because of their diet of Eucalyptus leaves.
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ReplyDeleteJacob Ward grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa. While it is not exactly a tourist destination (or even a town most people have heard of), Jacob loved living there. Its proximity to the city of Chicago allowed him to explore and take advantage of the many opportunities of a large city while still being able to have a strong sense of community which comes with living in a small town. Jacob toyed with the idea of attending college in Chicago; however, he decided that Colorado was a better fit for him. Jacob enjoys skiing, so Colorado seemed to be the perfect place. More generally, Colorado offers more opportunities to be outdoors and to be more physically active. Jacob chose DU specifically due to the scholarship DU offered him, the university’s good academic reputation, and the campus’s proximity to downtown Denver. Since being here, Jacob has begun to question some of his values. Throughout his life, his parents have significantly shaped his religious and political views. Now, outside of their direct influence, Jacob is forming his own ideas about religion and politics among other issues.
ReplyDeleteJacob loves to cook. He enjoys baking and grilling, and his favorite dish to make is soup. He has pondered the idea of one day opening a restaurant. He also enjoys traveling and wants to explore Europe more in the near future.
Jacob’s favorite genre of writing is philosophical fiction. He believes the ideas found within this genre are more applicable to real life and genuine thought than philosophical teachings alone. Jacob hopes this class will improve his skills as a writer and introduce him to new styles of writing.
Ellie Loran hates writing.
ReplyDeleteWhen she writes, she often feels frustrated, confused, and anxious. Given the choice, Ellie would rather create an in-depth financial analysis than write a paper for English class. Ellie likes structure. She likes knowing that a solution exists. She likes direction.
Hailing from Fort Collins, Colorado, Ellie got a full ride to the University of Denver—an amazing accomplishment. In spring 2011, after she established herself at DU, Ellie decided to join the Honors Program. She chose to do so in order to immerse herself in an environment that fosters a high level of learning. She wanted to be surrounded by people who take their education seriously.
Now enrolled in WRIT 1733, Ellie is faced with the task of writing. Ellie does not like writing, but that’s not to say that she can’t appreciate a great paper. In fact, it was during her senior year of high school that this Finance major produced her favorite piece of writing. The piece explored the specific wording of “metamorphosis.” In its initial stages, Ellie struggled with the piece (which is not surprising considering her distaste for writing). She spent hours and hours trying to find the words she needed to accurately express the thoughts that she had. Finally, Ellie had an epiphany. Soon after, her words began to flow onto the paper with fluidity and coherence. Ellie was surprised that writing could be so easy. All she had to do was develop the proper essay structure.
But, Ellie Loran still hates writing. Fortunately, though, she is very excited for WRIT 1733. She is excited to be enrolled in a fast-paced class that has the capability to sustain an intellectual conversation. She is excited to challenge herself.
Kelsey Popovich is undoubtedly someone with many diverse interests.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the reasons she is having trouble deciding what she wants her major to be. She doesn’t want to have to focus on one particular area of interest, which would limit her ability to explore the other subjects that she enjoys learning about.
She started out at DU majoring in Music, but she discovered that the classes she was taking for that major were not intellectually engaging enough for her. She found she really enjoyed taking classes that were outside of her major, especially classes in which she had little background in the subject being taught. Those were the classes that were really interesting to her. She loves learning about new things, saying that it might be kind of cheesy sounding, but she’s definitely a ‘lifelong learner’.
Because she has such different interests, she doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do as a career. She is inspired by her Mom, especially her work as a doctor in a nonprofit. One of the things Kelsey might want to do in the future would be to start a medical nonprofit. She wouldn’t want to be a doctor, but she would like to be able to manage the organization, especially if there was a truly original idea behind it, something that would allow the organization to grow and blossom.
In this class, she wants to become more efficient in her writing. Because she hasn’t written since high school, when she was in an AP class, she has lost her ability to write out papers as quickly as she could. She is hoping that this class will refresh those writing abilities of hers.
Having grown up with three older brothers, Mary-Louise has emerged as a motivated, strong individual. She claims she is clumsy, however, after 15 years of ballet, that doesn’t seem very likely. Other passions of hers include working with animals, especially dogs. Back home in Ohio, she oftentimes volunteered at local shelters.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, her dream career was to become a veterinarian, however she is now interested in genetics, especially the research aspect, as she works towards a degree in biology at DU. Her ambitious personality can be partly attributed to her parents supportive and encouraging behavior. Because both of her parents have PhD’s, education has always been an important and valued resource in her life.
In regards to her writing interests, her favorite style of writing is casual, op-ed pieces. Through this class, she hopes to improve her writing, especially her writing style and how she verbalizes her ideas on paper. Her least favorite aspect of writing, which she also hopes to improve upon, is the revision process. To her, it is difficult to rehash a paper after initially writing it.
Mary-Louise describes herself as energetic, driven, and not shy but not overly outgoing.
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ReplyDeleteBefore the interview process even began, Angelina Romasanta exuded an air of confidence. In fact, in this initial moment, everyone else in the classroom, including myself, was in a slight state of hesitation as we gazed up at the projection screen that blocked the white board upon which all the interview questions that we had brainstormed minutes before were written. The professor’s attention was elsewhere at that instant, so what were we to do, other than sit and wait for the screen to magically rise, revealing the desired information underneath? Angelina, on the other hand, was not accepting of this passive approach. Less than five seconds passed before she muttered under her breath, “You know what? I’m just going to go raise the screen up.” What was a seemingly unimportant action at the time, in retrospect, shaped the conclusions I would eventually draw about her character.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came to comments Angelina made about her previous writing experiences, the general theme I detected was a vague frustration with past instruction she had received. She mentioned that her teachers in high school did not teach a solid foundation in rhetoric and many of their criticisms seemed contradictory. She gave the example that they would emphasize a concise writing style, but would also preach on the importance of descriptors to make the writing more interesting. These responses did not strike me as complaints, but rather signaled another way in which she takes an active role in her life, identifying the reasons for why a situation is not ideal and looking for ways to improve it. In this case, the matter at hand was her education, as opposed to the projection screen obstacle.
On a more personal note, Angelina mentioned that her parents always treated her as an adult in her upbringing, giving her options and offering explanations for their decisions. I drew a connection between this and her desired major of psychology, because she specified that she enjoyed working with children and was fascinated by the ways in which outside forces can affect youth. In a purely speculative sense, I imagine that part of this interest stems from her own understanding of how an individual can, in turn, acknowledge these outside forces and determine the extent to which they will impact one’s life.
Before this class, I only knew Emily Broadwell as the quiet girl who always smiles at me in our hall in the dorms. Talking to her finally has introduced me to a sweet and friendly girl who I am sad I had not talked with her sooner. Emily, a Denver native, grew up going to a small private school in Englewood. Through the school, she was required to do community service, which she completed through assisting students at a local elementary public school. When she talks about her experiences there, one can easily see her interest in improving public schools through the passion shown in her face. Coming to the University of Denver has been a rewarding experience for Emily. She loves getting away from the restricting cliques and ‘preppiness’ of her Catholic high school and being able to live away from her parents doing what she wants when and with whom she wants here.
ReplyDeleteEmily’s love for Denver, itself, was a prominent factor when she made her decision to come to school here. The convenience of living in Denver was also very appealing to Emily. She greatly appreciates the option to escape campus and engage in activities downtown. Emily is a strong writer already, but through taking this class, she is hoping to learn how to refine details to convey strong, concise points in her writing. Ideally, she wants to use her English major to get a job in the publishing and editing career path. The Reader’s Digest would be her perfect place of work, and I can see that she has the determination to make that dream a reality. I enjoyed chatting with Emily and look forward to learning more about her in and outside of this class.
Nisha Vashisht, originally from Athens, Ga, now lives in Colorado with her parents. Because she wished to remain close to home and to family, she decided to attend the University of Denver.
ReplyDeleteDenver appealed to her because of its manageable size and great academic reputation. As opposed to the larger state schools, Denver is home to only 15,000 students. At DU, she is part of the University Honors Program. Nisha joined the program because she enjoys spending time among intelligent people whose goals aren't exclusively partying.
Outside of DU, Nisha enjoys eating all types of pasta and traveling to uncharted islands to tan on the unpopulated beaches. This has been Nisha's dream ever since attending a field trip during 8th grade to a remote island off the coast of Georgia. If money weren't an object, Nisha wouldn't choose to pursue any particular career. She feels as though a career would conflict with her travel interests. Joblessness would also allow her ample time to give back to her community and to serve the needy globally. Unsurprisingly, if Nisha were given $1 Million, she would again travel and establish a fund to help those in need.
Writing has always come fairly easily to Nisha. When asked what the most difficult part of writing was for her, she responded "probably the process that precedes writing". She goes on to describe the process as "tedious" and "boring". Nisha is taking this section of WRIT 1733 because of the challenge and opportunity to vastly improve her writing ability.
Ian’s worldview is thorough, encompassing not only his experiences with writing, but the entirety of his academic experience. Ian and I took the FSEM entitled “Does God Exist?” together earlier this year. At the conclusion of that course we were asked to write a 10 page thesis containing our basic thoughts regarding God’s existence, or lack thereof. Ian’s final paper for that class is his most prized piece of writing. His fundamental argument was that God is present in our world via its relatedness; Ian believes virtually everything in the world is the outcome of some other series of events and that nothing truly stands apart from the ebb and flow of our communal existence.
ReplyDeleteIan’s reasoning does more than explain the existence of God; it explains his current academic priorities. Ian’s deep-seated respect for diversity, particularly diversity of thought is one explanation for his interest in linguistics. Although DU does not offer a linguistics degree, Ian is persistent that it is his premier academic focus and he is an upper level Spanish student. In our interview, Ian explained that when speaking in English and Spanish he thinks differently. He also expresses things differently in different languages. For instance, when he empathizes with things in English he feels a different kind of empathy than he would feel if he had heard some emotion expressed in Spanish.
The thought process that Ian exhibits is so developed that even surface information fits within it. For example, Ian has no favorite animal. Better said, every animal is Ian’s favorite animal. This displays his belief that everything in the world is interwoven. He recognizes that every species of animal has an indirect connection to every other species of animal, making it impossible to favor just one species over all the others. I think Ian is a spectacular thinker, and that he enjoys trying to capture his thoughts with language (no matter which one).
Hailing from Parker, Colorado, Catherine Beckel finds the University of Denver to be a good fit because of its proximity to home. “It’s close,” she says, “but not too close”. That is, it’s close enough that she is familiar with the area and close enough to the natural beauty she values, but distant enough she feels independent. Her family consists of her mother and father, who are divorced, and, more recently, her stepmother. Beckel also has a younger sister and two pets—one cat and one dog. Beckel notes that her while father and stepmother are supportive “family people,” she and her mother not close. Her distant relationship with her mother has impressed upon her the value of family and of the relationship she has with her father.
ReplyDeleteNot surprisingly, Beckel finds her father to be one of the most influential people in her life and in her work. She admires his success, which has come of much hard work but not at the expense of his role as a supportive member of her family. Similarly, she admires her boyfriend’s mother who has persevered through much trial and tragedy. It is no doubt due in part to the influence of such strong and directly impactful persons that Beckel seeks to be a person who “makes a difference.”
Currently pursuing a major in International Studies, Beckel hopes that this field will address her interest—fueled by a long running breaking news habit—in “how the world works.” In the future, Beckel hopes to be involved in the international arena not as an analyst or a power player, but as a promoter of peace, perhaps with the United Nations or in a diplomatic role. Most importantly, she wants to be in a position to have a direct and meaningful impact on the world.
One can’t always be changing the world, however, and Beckel balances keeping abreast of current events with the thrill and excitement of Action and Adventure movies as well as the idealistic escape provided by Romantic Comedies. She particularly enjoys the diversion of the cheerful Romantic Comedy—a genre known for happy endings—from often unfortunate world events that make her “pessimistic sometimes.”
A similar inclination is apparent in Beckel’s preferred genre of writing. Overall, Beckel is “not a big fan of writing in general,” a sentiment likely shaped by a string of less-than-helpful teachers who provided more criticism than aid during her development as a writer. As a result, she greatly prefers writing more informal, personal works, such as diaries, to the process and formality of essays or papers. At DU, though, Beckel has written her favorite piece to date, an in-depth analysis of the documentary Babies. She has found the educators, particularly those in the honors program, to be of higher quality and capable of providing for both challenge and growth. Clearly, the future of Catherine Beckel, both as a leader in her field and as a writer, is a bright one.
According to DU students Natalie Illian saw the light—but not a moment too soon. After experiencing only one quarter of CC corruption, she realized her grave mistake and transferred to the University of Denver. And, as Natalie expressed, it had to be DU she transferred to, “just to spite CC.” Now happily at DU, Natalie reflects on the college admissions process, remembering, “I was petrified I wasn’t going to get in anywhere.” At yet, she did—and to nearly every school she applied to—an indicator of Natalie’s academic ability. Not only did colleges want her at their school, but so did one of the hardest programs—the math department. While at CC, Natalie was a math major and planned to continue at DU. However, due to the strength of Daniel’s College of Business, she decided to pursue her mathematical endeavors in a business arena—through a degree in finance.
ReplyDeleteGiven her mathematical leanings, I wondered if Natalie found humanities and, specifically writing, challenging. She responded, “challenging, no, frustrating, extremely so.” The nebulous nature of writing—how there is never one correct answer, is vexing to Natalie. A self-admitted perfectionist, writing takes her many times longer than “normal,” since there is no designated stopping point, and she always wants to make the piece even better. Once the process is done, however, Natalie is usually satisfied with her writing. Her favorite type of writing to do involves combining factual information with personal experiences. In this current writing class, Natalie would like to grow as a writer by learning ways to write faster and discover what styles and methods of writing are appropriate for various types of writing.
Thanks, everyone, for these thoughtful and engaging profiles. It's clear from your introductions that our class is full of already talented writers. I look forward to helping you all evolve further.
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