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"Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing."
-Benjamin Franklin
-Benjamin Franklin
Ever since I was a young boy I have had a fascination with writing. I remember drawing comics with characters I created and writing pages and pages of storyline to go along with it. As the years went by and my writing transformed with different classes requiring different forms, I continued with my stories because to me storytelling is of great importance and it is an ability often overlooked. I excelled still in my rigorous writing courses in high school, taking AP classes, and found them to be quite enjoyable. There was now a focus on writing about literature, stylistic technique, lab reports, and research projects centered on a certain subject or issue. Though what was expected in writing changed throughout the years, I still retained this passion for writing and its many forms.
At UCSB I continued to write as it was something I felt I have always been good at and always enjoyed doing. I took a wide range of courses that taught me to write for certain backgrounds and to adjust my techniques in order to fit various settings. Still, I wrote about subjects analyzing its content or responding to questions, persuasive essays, literature reviews, film reviews, and even providing case briefs and memos during my internships. More recently as a Political Science major my writing has been more focused on civic issues. What interested me most, however, and really drew me to take more classes was that now my writing could be purposive outside of itself. I could write about issues and controversies occurring in our social environment, the real world, airing discontents and even suggesting possible directions that could provide solutions or ameliorate the less than desirable situations. Writing is a communicative force, the pen really is mightier than the sword, and I now write in ways to impact the world around me and will continue to do so no matter where I see myself after UCSB.
At UCSB I continued to write as it was something I felt I have always been good at and always enjoyed doing. I took a wide range of courses that taught me to write for certain backgrounds and to adjust my techniques in order to fit various settings. Still, I wrote about subjects analyzing its content or responding to questions, persuasive essays, literature reviews, film reviews, and even providing case briefs and memos during my internships. More recently as a Political Science major my writing has been more focused on civic issues. What interested me most, however, and really drew me to take more classes was that now my writing could be purposive outside of itself. I could write about issues and controversies occurring in our social environment, the real world, airing discontents and even suggesting possible directions that could provide solutions or ameliorate the less than desirable situations. Writing is a communicative force, the pen really is mightier than the sword, and I now write in ways to impact the world around me and will continue to do so no matter where I see myself after UCSB.
ACADEMIC WRITING
PEACHSS Grant Proposal
This is the final product my team and I completed nearing the end of the writing course. Together we created a fictitious NGO that addressed the issue of sexual slavery within Colombia, Protection and Education Against Colombian Human Sex Slavery (PEACHSS). I acted as co-Team Leader of the NGO alongside another student. Included in the proposal is an analysis of the problem, statistical facts and background of Colombia, an action plan focused on educational workshops, a management plan, and a funding plan. Though we collaborated as a team in many different areas of the project the majority of my work went towards the funding plan, which I have included in this portfolio. In performing extensive research and referencing other NGOs I devised a budget that would cover the estimated costs for starting up the organization and staying active for the first year. I looked for potential funding sources and prospective partners that could provide PEACHSS with much needed resources and could help in furthering its mission. Also included in the portfolio is a letter to the Senior Vice President and CFO of Google, who we sought as a major donor for PEACHSS. The letter summarizes the PEACHSS plan and introduces the Grant Proposal.
I chose to include this piece in my portfolio because it is the work that I am most proud of. The grade I received in the class is not very representative of my writing abilities in the class nor of my ability to form an NGO and create a Grant Proposal along with it. I improved greatly from the earlier assignments and collectively, my team performed exceptionally well. We outperformed the other teams in the class, especially during our presentation, which Dr. Ek said we “aced.” She even asked to keep our Grant Proposal to be used as a sample for future classes. The Grant Proposal is now being considered to be submitted to the Writing Program's annual “Excellence in Professional Communication” competition. This assignment demonstrates my skills as a writer and ability to budget and formulate a funding plan. I learned a great from this class in how to write in a Global Professional setting but most importantly how to work in a group setting, taking a leadership role, in order to create an effective piece of work.
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Memorandum to Tribal
Chief
This is the second
memorandum sent to the fictitious Maori Tribal Chief from New Zealand. This chief has circumnavigated the globe,
studying legal systems and their impacts on varied cultures around the
world. The previous memorandum dealt with
how the American laws and legal system negatively impacted the Latino
community. This one focuses on its
positive influences. The memorandum was
the first portion of the final for a Chicano Studies class entitled Law and
Civil rights taught under the Honorable Judge Frank Ochoa.
I really enjoyed writing this memorandum because it is an issue point that greatly interests me. I chose this memorandum over the previous one I had written to the Chief because it is a more challenging subject. I feel it is easier to point out wrongs and injustices revolving around the legal system rather than figuring out how it has been beneficial. This memorandum demonstrates my ability to search through relevant case law and legal texts in order to see how the law has evolved and fluctuated to have a positive effect on a minority community. The hardships Latinos face has been a driving influence for me in pursuing my career goals. In the future I would like to affect change that deals primarily with this community, possibly in the realm of immigration law. This work signifies my personal interests and is an introduction to similar work I will hopefully be doing in the future.
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Differing Crime Perceptions in Isla Vista
This excerpt comes from
a much larger research report which is composed of work done throughout the
quarter. I conducted a study that
identified factors leading to differing crime perceptions in Isla Vista and how
greatly these factors contributed to these perceptions. A survey was used as the research instrument
to get at these perceptions, both UCSB and SBCC students were questioned. The dependent variable examined was crime
perception. Independent variables
included in the study were: respondent residency, year enrolled, gender, social
behaviors (socialized party lifestyle), and personal experiences with
crime.
I chose to include this work in my portfolio because it shows my ability to conduct an experiment, effectively analyze the data, and compile all of the information in an easy-to-read but well-written research report. This report also demonstrates my fascination on social issues, especially ones close to home that directly affect me personally and many people I know. Isla Vista provides a unique environment where crime seems to flourish. I wanted to analyze this phenomenon and get the viewpoints of those affected. The research yielded interesting results which leads me to believe that the crime issue we have in our town can be reduced in taking certain efforts involving “safe and smart partying.”
How the Syrian Conflict Should be Resolved: Looking at Two Views
This is an essay written for a lower-division Political Science class. It dealt with the ongoing conflict in Syria and provides possible solutions by looking through two schools of thought, the basic tenets decision-making for political scientists, Liberalism and Realism.
This class is what really drew me to the Political Science major and what led me to pursue an emphasis in International Relations. I wanted to signify this by including this piece of writing in the portfolio. The Syrian conflict was a controversial issue and its sensitive nature provided a dilemma on how international actors should respond. Today it continues to be a problem as the body count rises and resolutions still cannot be reached. This essay demonstrates my interests in issues involving the world around me and how I can uncover possible implications in analyzing a problem.
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Legal Memorandum
This piece was written for the WRIT 107L course, Legal Writing, taught under the direction of Dr. Walling. It is a memorandum written to the senior lawyer of a firm pertaining to whether the evidence of marijuana found by a police dog could be suppressed from the case based on the validity of the warrant and right of probable cause.
This excerpt is included in the portfolio because it shows my ability to research pertinent case law and legal precedents, analyze a criminal case, and construct a legal document laying out a predictive analysis. This class was obviously one of the more difficult writing classes I have taken. Legal writing differs greatly from the customary type of writing I am used to. Every word needs to be impeccable and sentences constructed in ways that are coherent and make possible misinterpretations impossible. I received a B- in the course and though this is a less than desirable grade, to me it was an accomplishment. I spent countless hours after class speaking with the instructor and my supervisor at the Legal Resource Center (LRC) in order to improve my writing, and by the end of the course it did. This is the type of writing I will purse in the future and this class provided me with a sample of what I will be doing after UCSB.
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NON-ACADEMIC WRITING
Consent for Geo-Positional Data
This is a memorandum I wrote during my internship at ZentLaw in 2012. It was the first time was put into a legal setting and it is where I learned many skills that will be beneficial to me in the future. Not just researching case law and writing briefs and memos, but also how to network and interface with clients and staff. ZentLaw had recently acquired a highly publicized cellular company in the midst of the ongoing controversy involving personal information being leaked via cellular phones. The client wanted to protect itself from possible legal action and the lead attorney gave me the task of providing background information on the subject and how other companies were handling the issue.
This is the very first memorandum I had written. It is how I first learned of its structure and since then I feel my writing has greatly improved. I wanted to provide a sample outside of the academic setting and attest to my claims as to being an effective professional writer. This piece pertains to a controversial issue, a theme that has been common in much of my writing. Learning of the issues technological companies in Silicon Valley faced introduced me to whole new legal world outside my field of knowledge. This piece opened me up to one of the many issues that exist in our society and how I can actually make a difference in them through written work.
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Site Emails and Notifications
This is the skeletal work for the email and notification system to be used for a user-based legal networking website. Due to the sensitive nature of the start-up, I cannot reveal the name of the company, but I can say that it was featured in the ABA Journal and Forbes Magazine. These site emails and notifications were incorporated in the final product of the website. These were used to notify users when they joined the website, performed certain tasks, or in advertising some aspect of the site.
I chose to include this piece in the portfolio because it is business related writing. I want to show the different types of writing I have worked on that are less than customary. At this internship I learned the basics in starting a new company from the ground up. I feel that once fully public this company will be widely successful, and I am just happy to have had a role in it, though very small. This email and notification structure serves to demonstrate my ability to write in a variety of ways for different settings.
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