Dear portfolio reader, For my cover letter, I decided to be a bit creative, and make an Instagram feed that would highlight my struggles, weaknesses, and most importantly, improvements throughout this semester. Instagram: “notabvstander” (https://www.instagram.com/notabvstander/?hl=en). This name represents my newly-found will to start taking actions this semester in order to take control of my academic learning, rather than sitting back, …
Growing up, I was always told that going to college was the only way to get a job and be successful in life, but not once did either of my parents talk to me about the struggle of college life. While I was going from middle school to high school, my sister was transitioning into college. After we both graduated, …
Analyzing images helps deconstruct the message the image is trying to convey and helps us understand why everything is portrayed the way it is. As Jack Solomon explains in his article, “Reading Visual Images Actively,” “In analyzing images, you will develop the ability to identify specific telling details and specific evidence” (33). Supremacy is the quality of being superior and …
It is very common for an advertiser to use a celebrity to affect a product’s value, such as in Galaxy’s 2013 chocolate bar advertisement [aka Dove Chocolate], which included a digital re-creation of Audrey Hepburn. In several days, most news outlets scrambled to report this new Galaxy girl; the ad touched off a heated discussion in the public. This chocolate …
Finding the yin to your yang is a quest most people spend their lives searching for. In the novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, written by Benjamin Alire Saenz, Aristotle and Dante are teens on their way to discovering who they are. The narrator of this novel is Aristotle, aka “Ari.” The struggle with race, family, …
Beyoncé’s second visual album, Lemonade, is a masterpiece at its finest. Lemonade was created to reveal Beyoncé’s responses to the infidelity of a significant other, the empowerment of African American women, and police brutality. The most important theme is black women’s empowerment. Lemonade addresses black women’s empowerment by placing black women of different shapes and sizes into her visual album; …
Sarah Hemphill Universities used to be bastions of free speech and the flow of ideas. Students passionately fought for their right to not be silenced in regards to the most controversial of issues. Now, it seems as if the opposite is occurring: students in general are in favor of limiting speech and establishing safe spaces on campuses, and many universities …
Our Voices Will Make a Change is an online blog created by Margaret Duggan and Danielle Snali in the fall of 2016. In it, the authors bring awareness and insight about police brutality. The blog provides background information, contrasting points of view, and even offer commentary on ways to end police brutality. This blog gives excellent understanding of collaborative writing and …
Bradley Iverson In this Narrative, Bradley Iverson discusses a painful journey that his family went through: grieving the loss of a loved one. As he discusses this grief, he touches upon how it was unique to each individual family member. Iverson sends us a strong message to walk away with, and what we can learn, even through painful experiences. To …
Amber Barraza In this reflection of Queer Studies 114B, Amber Barraza tells future students what to expect from this course, along with what she has learned. She reflects on her experiences as a writer and what it means to be an ally for the LGBTQ community. This reflection can serve as an excellent tool to help demonstrate the recursive process …