how I arrived at writing and why I stuck with it:
In eighth grade, an instructional book for English, my native language, fell upon my desk. Fitting the typical sardonic teenager response, I felt insulted when I realized this was required reading. Despite my initial reluctance, The Elements of Style soon obliterated my perceived grasp of rhetoric, and I became obsessed with the complex machinery that is the English language.
Like a machine, the perfect sentence is functional and contains no needless parts. Unlike a machine, the perfect sentence can bottle the raw essence of humanity to impact readers throughout eternity. Fascination with such power has led me to pursue a degree in journalism. I am intrigued by how words can persuade, inform, disgust, and romance a reader.
To explore, I started dissecting the poetry of Leonard Cohen and comedy of Garry Shandling. I marveled at how succinct and powerful their writing is. I examined their rhythm and word choice, learning how they made me laugh or cry. Through this experience I realized how delicate rhetoric is: Modifying a single word can butcher the otherwise beautiful prose.
After years of meticulous creative writing, I served as journalist and editor for my college’s newspaper. This job experience plucked me—a solitary, meandering writer—from the masses and dropped me at the head of a demanding writing team. I developed vital skills like teamwork, communication, and meeting deadlines. Personal writing helped my self-discovery. Interviewing people and collaborating with journalists taught me the importance of engaging with different viewpoints and community.
Over the years, my career, education and hobbies have all centered on research, writing, and film. My goal with my Media and Journalism B.A. is to work at companies that restore, preserve, and promote films like The Criterion Collection. Outside of academic writing, I research and write screenplays. I’ve written about vast subjects from the Maquis during World War II to Quaker/Native American life in Colonial America. Since coming to UNC, I’ve worked on developing myself as a professional screenwriter.
Running the newspaper and drafting documents for family taught me the importance of language. Sure, analyzing the art is important for my mind and heart, but communication is the key to life. Whether it was journalists writing about LGBTQIA+ issues or my mother’s job application, if one cannot communicate, their purpose falls on deaf ears. I realized that the critique of this craft is character by character. If an oncologist found the cure for cancer but wrote confusing, cliché text laced with grammatical errors, the world would remain in treatment. I am passionate about writing because it allows me to find and express myself. Although there is no greater elation than writing a perfect line, conveying important messages is the core of writing.
You can learn more about my experience here: resume