For your first blog post, please introduce the classmate you interviewed to the rest of us. Write a 250-350 profile that captures who he or she is, where he or she is from, and what he or she likes to do. You might tell us more about this person’s experiences as a writer or his or her interest in service-learning.
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 mini-profile.
For example, if I were to interview myself and post the result, I might write something like:
Place matters to Professor Geoffrey Bateman, which is why his current research is so important to him. "I think the different regions of our country shape us in important ways," he says. “As a teacher and scholar, I'm interested in studying the literature and cultural history of places, especially the American West."
Having grown up near Portland, Oregon, his interest in the West has evolved since childhood. He grew up exploring everything from the majestic Columbia River Gorge to the misty Oregon coast; he hiked parts of the Pacific Crest Trail and hung out in the quirky urban spaces of Portland and Seattle.
These experiences may help explain his current research on the queer frontier. His dissertation explores the cultural representations of sexuality in the American West near the end of the 19th century.
"It's a particularly rich period for sexuality studies,” he observes. "Sexual identity was not nearly as cut and dried as it became in the mid to late 20th century. And when you consider how racialized identities and gender norms factor into this understanding, you have an explosion of fascinating accounts—both literary and historical.”
But his interests don’t lie solely in the past. Professor Bateman believes strongly that historical research must speak to contemporary issues, especially those that are politically charged.
“Literature and history offers us a way to rethink current problems, and for me, I think the most rewarding I can do historically is to show others how texts from the past allow us to re-imagine our lives today.”
Such engagement means that in his first-year writing courses, he tries to find meaningful ways for students to practice their writing. Ideally, he wants them to connect abstract rhetorical concepts and research methodologies with ideas and problems outside our university context.
“Ultimately,” he says, “I want students to feel confident that what they’re learning in my classroom not only prepares them for the rest of their time at DU, but also starts them on a much larger journey of being an engaged citizen for the rest of their lives.”
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Hailing from the warm, sunny region of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Caroline Halter approaches this class with excitement. She has lived in Albuquerque since she was two years old and loves the people and beauty of the mountains. In elementary school, she developed her love for singing and it has stayed with her though high school and she now is majoring in music. Her favorite type of music to sing is classical a cappella style music written by Eric Whittaker. He combines modern styles of music with classical styles to create a very interesting sound for the group to sing. She is excited for the class because of her love for service. Since moving to Denver, she has not been as service orientated as she has in previous years. A trip to Nicaragua a few summers ago to teach local children and working in soup kitchens in New Mexico have been the highlighting events of her previous service. One of her goals in this class is to develop her rhetoric and vocabulary. She has always enjoyed writing, especially persuasive pieces that incorporate past knowledge and research. She came from a Catholic affiliated high school that put strong emphasis on writing; however, the religious background of the school helped her develop her religious beliefs. She enjoys her spirituality but sometimes, organized religion frustrates her. The lack of openness and idea that one person’s belief is better than another fascinates her because she does not believe we can truly comprehend the meaning of a higher being. Ultimately, she cannot wait for her experience in working with Project Homeless connect and discovering more about the problem of homelessness in our world.
ReplyDeleteDo not try to feed anything with marinara sauce to Ashley Siemers, because she will leave the room! Yet, there is definitely more to Ashley than an aversion to a certain red sauce. On a more serious note, Ashley was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Ashley is an only child, but has four stepsiblings, three stepsisters and one stepbrother, since her parents have both remarried. Ashley’s new residence is the University of Denver where she studies accounting. She first thought of DU because her cousin graduated from the university. In the end, she chose to come here because of her parents’ decree that she should go to school by family or within six hours of St. Louis. DU fulfills both of these requirements, plus Ashley likes the weather in Denver. She says that after finishing up her degree at DU, Ashley's hope is to launch her career at one of the Big Four accounting firms and ultimately go on to become a Chief Financial Officer.
ReplyDeleteIn St. Louis Ashley developed a certain love for uniforms, most likely due to her many years of Catholic school she says. Other memories from her childhood in St. Louis include getting two televisions when she had the Chicken Pox when she was four years old; also the Christmas when both parents got her the same bicycle. This was the Christmas she realized there was no Santa, since Mom’s bike was from Santa and Dad’s was from the store. Ashley played tennis, racquetball, and was on a swim team. Ashley lamented that she was no longer able to be on her swim team as she had for eleven years prior because she is over eighteen.
Here at the University of Denver Ashley is a member of the Pioneer Leadership Program and the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority. She is continuing her athletic career in racquetball and graces the DU club racquetball team with her feminine presence as their only girl. She will soon be adding to her high school racquetball achievement of three trips to the national competition by adding a fourth attendance at Nationals for the collegiate level of the sport.
When Miss Briana Duffy informed the room at large that she was majoring in cognitive neural science, a smile kissed her lips while I sat there, both impressed and intimidated. Neural science, that's like, studying the brain, right? After spending just a few minutes with Miss Duffy, it became apparent that here is a young lady who is both intelligent and down to Earth. She laughs easily and is a genuinely nice person. Perhaps her warm personality was shaped by her very interesting and exciting childhood? Though home for Briana has always been a ranch in the quiet, small town of Crawford, Colorado - no, seriously, by small, I'm making reference to the population of 300 or so people that reside there - Briana has spent time living on the exotic and goregous island of Lifou (New Caledonia). This small island is located approximately 1000 miles off the east coast of Australia. She describes the island as "phenomenially beautiful." Both of her parents are fluent in French, and they decided to move to the island briefly to expose Briana to the French language. Due to this emersion, Briana is now an abled speaker, though she admits writing in French is not really one of her stronger assets.
ReplyDeleteBriana is no stranger to traveling abroad - and she hopes to continue experiencing the world when she studies abroad in New Zealand. When she was in the 8th grade, she traveled internationally and captured experiences few are fortunate enough to have in a lifetime. After traveling to the Fiji Islands, Briana fell in love with the culture and community - and the community loves her back! Briana was adopted into a village by a lovely woman named Matialita, and has been embraced by the people. Her "adopted" mother sparked Briana's passion for gardening and showed her things about plants that Briana had never known. To this day, gardening is one of Briana's passions.
Briana's other passions include reading and doing puzzles. Though she is an only child, she has her dogs and horses to keep her company.
At the end of Briana's time at the University of Denver, she plans to use her degree in neural science to become a Doctor of Natural Medicine. After college, she hopes to participate in the volunteer program Doctors Without Borders where she will work in third world countries administering natural health care. Briana's desire to help those in need is demonstrated by her excitement to take this class. She has always been interested in volunteer work, and she hopes to take her experience from Project Homeless Connect and grow from it. Get to know this amazing young lady!
J.P Salas is an aspiring artist born and raised in Denver, Colorado. This Gemini, born on May 23, is a freshman at the University of Denver majoring in studio art and film. She plans on moving to L.A. to take film and become an artistic director in the future. Don’t try and play movie trivia against this girl because after being raised on movies she can confidently say she’s seen almost every movie known to man. She was even watching Gone With The Wind at the age of three. She particularly loves old cinema and The Wizard of Oz. But film isn’t her only passion. Singing, dancing, and acting are three of her other hobbies as well; can you say triple threat? Reading books, especially by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and painting are two other hobbies that fulfill the life of J.P as well.
ReplyDeleteJ.P. grew up with her mom and her two younger brothers (and four older half sisters she didn’t talk to very much) in what she recalls as a hard and difficult childhood. Though difficult, J.P. remembers always being happy and spending a lot of time in her community. She has been volunteering since she was a little girl and now volunteering is a “part of her blood”. After she gains success in California J.P.’s number one priority is to give back to the community and improve the way things are for everyone.
Some fun facts about J.P. are that she loves Mexican food, but her true weakness is sesame chicken. J.P. is also scared of spiders, is double jointed at the elbows, has traveled all over the U.S. and to Italy and France, will listen to any type of music except for country, and loves writing spoken word poetry. If you didn’t know anything about this artistic activist before, you certainly do now.
Over spring break, Helen Kappa helped to plan and host a Christian Ethiopian Youth Conference. Each day, participants from all over the United States, along with several from Canada and Australia, would attend two worship services and sit in on workshops covering topics like Christian leadership, music, and outreach. As a passionate Christian, Kappa enjoyed meeting many new friends and learning about different subjects in the context of her faith.
ReplyDeleteBorn in Ethiopia, Kappa soon moved to Kenya where she lived with her family until she turned nine years old. Remembering her childhood in Kenya, this aspiring teen spoke of her time at a private Pentecostal school. “Appearances were really important,” Kappa explained, noting the fact her school had a strict uniform policy. Studying there, Kappa rubbed elbows with the children of local politicians and valued the overall experience.
Since arriving in the states, Kappa has wanted to return to Ethiopia and to Africa. Missing her home culture, she described her dream of traveling to the continent and someday affecting positive change in Ethiopia. As an International studies major, Kappa wants to spend her time at DU acquiring an understanding of how successful infrastructure functions in other countries in order to return to Ethiopia and apply what she has learnt to improve the infrastructure there.
With her father working in the United Nations, Kappa has her sights set on a similar career, hoping to work for that organization or for the government. As someone who cherishes her faith and describes one of her favorite writers as the Apostle Paul, Kappa wants to keep Christianity as a part of her life and whichever career she chooses to pursue.
Although Kappa has serious ambitions, she smiled, half in laughter, as she told me her favorite music – reggae, gangster rap from the 90s, and rogue-modern pop rock. Grooving closer to her aspirations, Helen’s eyes lit up as she revealed her summer plan; a mission trip to Ethiopia.
Ashley Dennis does not dream of using her future law degree to practice law the rest of her life, instead she want to write children stories. With a gleam of excitement in her eyes, Ashley imagines the stories she will someday write in order to inspire beginner readers to love reading and writing as much as she did growing up. As a self-proclaimed day dreamer, Ashley mentions her tendency to stare off into space envisioning the plots of her future stories. Someday we may even see them on the bookshelves of Barnes and Noble as we walk through the children’s section with our own kids.
ReplyDeleteContinuing her interest in children and education, Ashley has volunteered as a tutor. Her mom is the chairperson of the black caucus giving Ashley many opportunities for involvement in the Denver community. Previously she tutored elementary school children, but she now works with a high school student. She shakes her fist at this passionately stating, “He just needs to make an effort!” Now, her focus on homelessness is a “new and fresh” way to serve the community.
It is interesting that Ashley takes such as interest in children because she describes little kids as “vicious.” When Ashley was born, the doctor dislocated her right shoulder as he pulled her out by this arm. He then did not inform her parents, so now she cannot raise her right arm above her head. Her elementary school experience was “horrible” in her mind. In order for her to participate in PE, her mom had to be present. Still, this disability gives her character. Would she have such a strong personality if these “vicious” elementary school kids had not targeted her? The doctors said she would not be able to tie her shoes. She raises her foot showing off her neatly tied shoes. She showed them.
This passion for rising above the norms will surely put Ashley on the road to success. You can see the stories turning over in her mind ready to escape to the paper. These same circulating ideas will help her create innovative ways to transform the community. Ashley’s interest in homelessness may begin with Project Homeless Connect, but I imagine her involvement will continue beyond the requirement.
Sarah Imel
ReplyDeleteSarah Imel as I have gotten to know her is quite the interesting driven young woman. She grew up in Portland, Oregon and has been there all her life. Much different from our school Sarah went to Catholic Schools all her life but she does not identify herself as a Catholic, but rather loosely associates with the Lutherans. Sarah plans to be a personal trainer and she has a quirky passion for team sports and the dynamics of the relationships that are formed in these sports. Interestingly enough she has a passion for writing. She loves to read magazines, one of her favorites being the Oprah magazine, but she reads many different ones.
During spring break Sarah took some time off to visit her grandparents and friends in Florida, and travelled around the state. Her favorite trip though has to be the five weeks she spent in Spain with a host family. Some of her favorites include the book The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, her favorite movie is the Shawshank Redemption, and her favorite music is that of Coldplay. This summer Sarah plans to just work and go to school here in Denver where she enjoys the weather and atmosphere.
Interview by Helen Kassa
Laine Rutkowski
ReplyDeleteLaine was born and raised in Austin Texas and has been there entire life, but don’t consider this girl a typical Southern Belle, she is full of life and passion for a great many things. The first thing to point out about Laine is that she loves music. It is her passion and hopes to apply that to her future career. A Music Supervisor is a relatively a new job title in the media industry these days, but this is the profession that Laine wants to pursue. A Music Supervisor puts the music into television shows and movies. We all know that music can make or break a production, so it takes someone who knows music backwards and forewords, take my word for it Laine is that girl!
Through and through Laine is a very caring and nice girl. She went to Nicaragua on a service trip to build houses for those who are less fortunate in a very poor country. This is also her favorite vacation she’s ever been on. She’s very humble about all this of course, as well as her very creative side. Laine likes to sing and do creative writing on her spare time. She likes to write stories mostly, but still enjoys just letting that imagination go and develop into a great piece of writing.
Laine is perfect example of how creativity manifests into self into many talents in just one person. She’s know how to harness her skills and continually looks to improve others and things with her many forms of creative outlets.
Interview by Jessica Salas
Katey Webber
ReplyDeleteAs I spoke with Katey Webber, her desire to help others was evident. Katey is from Rockville, Maryland, a suburb in the megalopolis of the Washington D.C. area. However, her suburban comfort has not made her oblivious to the plight of those less fortunate than herself. Her major is international studies and she is interested in poverty-stricken and disadvantaged people and aiding them. Katey would like to use her international studies degree to work for a non-profit company, potentially on the international scale. During her spring break, Katey went and helped build houses with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans. She found the experience to be “eye-opening and her favorite trip so far”.
Katey enjoys the outdoors and outdoor activities for which Colorado is known. She also has the advantage of having others advice about Colorado adventure. Both her mother and father went to the University of Denver, as well as a grandparent, cousins, and other relatives. Her father works for the FDA and her mother is a preschool teacher. Her older sister is currently at the University of Maryland studying to be a preschool teacher as well.
Katey did not always know that she wanted to go to the University of Denver. After having repeatedly come to Colorado for vacation, she toured the campus and realized her desire to attend our lovely institute of education. Now, not only do she and her family attend university, but she also helps students at Denver’s South High School apply and prepare for college. Katey has let her desire to help others better themselves continue even during her busy college career, and plans to further her aid to others through WRIT 1133 and Project Homeless Connect.
Interview by Briana Duffy
Don’t be fooled by Miss Michelle Sexton’s girl next-door appearance. Underneath those warm eyes is a strong and independent woman. At a young age she has established many leadership roles such as Pioneer Leadership Program, Gama Phi Beta’s New Member Educator, and as a college counselor at South High School.
ReplyDeleteWhen asked about her work at South High School, she explained “I felt rewarded to volunteer at South High School. I have learned a lot from the students.” South High School is facing tremendous problems for graduating senior to apply for college. Many of them have difficulties due to their social economic status, immigration status and many more factors of inequalities. For example, one of the students Miss Sexton worked with is an immigrant from Ethiopia. He is facing hard time with his family. She had made a special connection with him. Due to her help, he is able to start college application process; college was something he would have never thought about.
Miss Sexton grew up in the suburb of Chicago, near Northwestern University. Her plan after graduating from University of Denver is to pursue a one-year graduate degree at Northwestern University in journalism or marketing. According to Miss Sexton, reason for her to seek Northwestern is to be closer to home. Family is paramount to Miss Sexton. Her older brother attends University of Colorado at Boulder, which is approximately 30 minutes away from University of Denver. She has a loving relationship with her mother. However, her mother created a lifetime phobia for Miss Sexton.
Miss Sexton had her ears pierced at a very young age. One day, Mrs. Sexton decided to take out her earrings for her. However, Michelle would not give in to her mother. Therefore, Mrs. Sexton decided to spray Pam cooking oil on Michelle’s ear in order to take out the earrings. Cooking oil had cause an infection in Michelle’s ear. When they arrive at the doctor’s office, Michelle was under tremendous pain. When the nurse approaches her, she attempted to bite the nurse. From that moment on if anyone ever attempts to touch her ears the result is unthinkable. Therefore, I do not recommend anyone to attempt this dangerous task.
To us she is Jessica Rose but to some very special kids she is Miss. Jessica. At her home in Kansas City she volunteers for a kindergarten class. She really misses them and on breaks from school she goes back to see them. Miss. Jessica, as her kindergarten class likes to call her, is full of passion. Her passion for children has been a part of most of her life and while continue to be. She is a psychology major and wants to either teach kindergarten or be a child psychologist. Miss. Jessica’s passion for service has continued here as she is the philanthropy chair for Gamma Phi Beta and a member of the Pioneer Leadership Program.
ReplyDeleteBefore coming to the University of Denver Miss. Jessica lived with her mom and two younger brothers. Her parents are divorced and her father lives in California. Her high school was a Jewish high school and there she found a cultural community that has deeply attributed to who she is today. As the spirit squad caption for her high school she was able to express her love for dancing and acting. She accredits her passion for volunteering to her experience of serving +300 hours of community service while in high school. Being Jewish is something very valuable to Miss. Jessica. Chanukkah is her favorite holiday and she has been to Israel twice.
There are some very important facts people should take note when being around Miss. Jessica. Mainly, do not give her fish unless it’s Phish food from Ben and Jerry’s! Miss. Jessica is a hopeless romantic and loves the Twilight series and “Desperate Housewives”. Being the romantic that she is she has planned out her entire wedding and has her kids named picked out. No matter if it is children, community service, dance, or fish Miss. Jessica has a passion for it all.
Have you ever heard of someone who is scared of eating apples or even the mere sound of another eating an apple? Meet Jeanette Rojas. Jeanette is a freshman at the University of Denver and is from Loveland, CO. Jeanette is quite possibly the most bubbly and thoughtful person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. One of Jeanette’s life goals is to educate for awareness. She truly cares about global issues that are destroying the well being of diverse countries. Jeanette primarily wants to create awareness about the femicide that takes place in other countries. In fact, another idea that she is interested in is joining the Peace Corps.
ReplyDeleteJeanette describes her childhood as, “an adventure within her culture.” She was raised in a family where her Mexican heritage was primary. Her mother would only cook Mexican food and the first time she tried to attempt another cooking style, she made spaghetti with ketchup. Jeanette’s Mexican heritage is a huge part of her life and will continue to be throughout her life. One of her most memorable “adventures” is when she went to Mexico to visit her family. On the way home from the trip, Jeanette and her family got lost and could not find America. She describes this experience as one of the most, “funny and memorable experiences of her life.”
While Jeanette was describing her childhood and future goals to me, I couldn’t help but truly admire her positive and upbeat attitude. Jeanette is always willing to strike up a conversation and become friends with just about everyone she meets. I never see her without a smile on her face or a warm “hello” when passing in the hallway. I truly believe that if we all were able to learn from Jeanette’s example, our lives would be enriched with happiness, sheer optimism and a true sense of heritage.
Corinna Zinsmeyer is a native of New Jersey and moved to Colorado Springs when she was four. She is currently a Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management major, but she is not sure if she will stick with the program.
ReplyDeleteCorinna went to a public school from Kindergarten through high school. She says, “I was used to having all the same people in all of my classes. When I got to DU it was quite a shock, because I only knew three people out of four thousand.”
Every summer Corinna enters the majestic world of knights and damsels in distress. She has worked at the Renaissance festival in Larkspur, Colorado the past several summers. She does not have a particular interest in the matter, but got the job on a whim while visiting the festival with her family. According to Corinna, her employer expects her to speak authentically while on the job. She is not too keen on performing in this manner. The only two reasons Corinna still works at the Renaissance festival is because of her high wages and the fact that she only has to work weekends, which leaves the rest of the week for activities.
Recently, Corinna took a spring break trip to Anaheim, California. In Anaheim, Corinna visited Disneyland. She felt slightly awkward because of her age. She claims, “I am not a kid, but at the same time, I am not old enough to have kids. It was an awkward situation to say the least.” Overall, Corinna’s spring break was a fun time. She not only had time to play in Disneyland, she also had time to relax at home.
Corinna is excited to start spring quarter and finish the journey that is her first year at the University of Denver.
You would never know it when she speaks to you, since she is fluent in English, but Anna's experience at DU is similar to studying abroad. Anna grew up in Taiwan with her family until they moved to the San Francisco Bay area. Recently, Anna moved with her father to Colorado, and she is now a senior at DU. One of Anna's strengths is learning languages. She is multi-lingual, and it only takes a few short months to acquire a new one. From her international exposure, to her involvement in anti-violence programs, to her inviting and friendly demeanor, Anna is an unparalleled inspiration.
ReplyDeleteAnna has a tremendous work ethic. Over spring break, she worked on a "Train The Trainer" program, teaching people who plan instruct at different organizations around the city, such as urban peak and rainbow alley. In addition to this, she is often on call for the sexual assault crises hotline, and has been involved with the Colorado Anti-violence program, built resource databases, has been a sexual assault advocate here at DU. She has also done outreach programs on safe sex with Rainbow Alley in downtown Denver. It is clear through her work that she is interested in helping others and bettering the community.
When I asked Anna what her favorite trip was, she explained, "I worked as a bike messenger in New York City for an entire summer, which was my favorite place and trip of all time." It was a great experience for her, and definitely a unique job!
Anna has a notable outgoing and selfless personality. After graduating this spring, Anna is planning on moving to China to work and spend time with family in September of 2009.
David Gebhardt loves cheese! Apparently you can ask anyone, and they will tell you that yes, he loves it. His favorite kind of cheese is sharp cheddar. Ok, now can you guess where he is from? That’s right, David is from Wisconsin, and he has lived in Milwaukie for his entire life. He is one of four children, and part of an enormous Irish Catholic family. David came to Denver because he enjoys skiing and as he says, “just bummin’ around.”
ReplyDeleteDavid was a member of the debate team in high school, and still loves a good argument. Although he likes to instigate political debates, he doesn’t affiliate with a particular party, which he says causes occasional conflicts with his grandparents. Although he attended a Jesuit high school, he’s “not a fan” of organized religion. He says that it can make people “closed minded”
David started getting involved in community service through his high school’s service hours requirement. He has been engaged in various activities such as working in soup kitchens and building homes in Kentucky. David is currently an organizer for Denver’s Road Home, and is showing his commitment to the issue of homelessness by enrolling in this writing class.
Here are some more interesting facts about David: His astrological sign is possibly Virgo. He’s not sure. David enjoys listening to classic improvisational music, such as Phish and The Grateful Dead. His other favorites include the very talented Billy Joel and Elton John. David likes to try new things, such as sky diving, and when asked if he has any strange phobias he replied no. He did inform me that he hates ants. I agree. They are terrible.