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. Tell us more about this person’s experiences as a writer or his or her interest in service-learning. Perhaps most importantly, give us a sense of this person’s experience with the issue of homelessness and what he or she hopes to learn about (as a writer, researcher, or civically engaged person) by taking this course.
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.
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Malina comes to us from Colorado Springs, and enjoys tennis and community involvement. She defines home not as the material structure of her house, but as the community and close ties of her family, and lived in Sarasota, Florida for two years. Although she has not traveled much, she looks forward to studying abroad in Spain or Argentina. She describes herself as a quiet person, although after extensive discussion I would beg to differ. She hopes to build on her social interaction through this course, noting that "I do things to push myself," and to engage in writing for a purpose, and not merely a graded assignment.
ReplyDeleteEven though Charlie has traveled to many countries—Spain, Honduras, Greece, and Turkey, just to name a few—his idea of “home” resides in the cozy little town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Charlie identified his home not as the actual house in which he lived, not the strong walls, not the brilliant glass windows, not the roof over his head, but with the community of people he knew, the cozy local places that held memories and supreme value in his life. The close community life that Charlie grew to cherish after having to leave his home for college provoked him to be proactive in community involvement, specifically on the international level. Charlie has participated in myriad international causes including Rotary International, an organization that raises funds for clean water in various countries. Although Charlie maintains a close relationship with his family, he enjoys the benefits of meeting different people during times of travel and during times of volunteerism. Among various volunteering positions, Charlie has worked with kids with disabilities. Charlie also participated in a demanding role of mentoring high school freshmen in Denver, helping them to develop ways to get involved in issues that they cared about. Because of his passion for community involvement, Charlie enjoys what he calls “writing for a purpose,” he stated that writing about meaningful issues that arouse passion in an individual is “much more rewarding” than simply writing for a given prompt. One can respect and admire Charlie’s passion, thoughtful insight, and experience when it comes to analyzing community involvement in this county and countries abroad.
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ReplyDeleteJames Lozano
ReplyDeleteJames Lozano comes to the University of Denver from home, where his close family lives, in Greeley, Colorado. He comes uniquely crossing over differences and connecting diversity as he has always strived.
As a child, James resisted “following the crowd,” creating a strong sense of self, and leading him to bridge gaps between groups and ideas. James’ leadership and passion for Social Justice generously benefits people in need through his work with organizations like CCESL and PUKSTA, particularly on issues of racism and immigration.
James initially chose to study Biology because of its capacity to heal people's lives. His major is now undeclared, but his motivation remains. James is currently considering study in the Lamont School of Music. His interest in music comes from a personal connection with Hip-hop artists like 2pac that lyrically discuss personal tribulations and social justice issues.
It is clear from briefly speaking with him today that whatever James decides to pursue, he will be an invaluable and engaged member of his community.
Priya Amin
ReplyDeleteMuch like my family, Priya’s family came from another country and she is the first generation to be born in the United States. She currently resides in Colorado, but her parents are from India, in which she has also visited several times.
Priya has also been to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, but India stands out from her travels because she likes to experience the differences in cultures as opposed to simply staying at a resort. She hopes to travel extensively and is currently an international studies major with a physics minor. She has taken a handful of languages in high school, but she is currently concentrating on learning Chinese. She also shows interest in physics and believes that it will diversify her knowledge.
Like me, she also loves the mountains but she dislikes winter sports and is more interested in summer sports such as free climbing.
Priya has not done service learning, but she has volunteered quite a bit. Her favorite experience was helping refugees get settled into the United States. Like many in the class, she believes that writing should be done with a purpose and believes that this class will provide a better motivation to write. She has not yet taken an intensive writing course here at DU and is a little nervous about the experience, but she believes that she will quickly grow to enjoy this service learning opportunity.
When Alex went home to Afton, Minnesota for winter break a friend told her that she had become "a little more laidback" since coming to DU in September; and from what I discovered "laidback" is the perfect way to describe her.
ReplyDeleteAlex's laidback nature comes from her hometown which provides her with the prime location to kick back, enjoy being outside, and just be herself. Alex comes from a small town just outside of the twin cities giving her the best of both worlds: the small town everyone knows everyone else community and the thrill of the big city. She lives on 15 acres of land very close to the river and in the summers she loves being on the water boating, tubing, and swimming. She laughed when she told me about how her friends and her stash their old canoe in the back of her truck and race to get to the river before the canoe can teeter out of the back. When she isn’t out on the water she also loves to tool around on her family’s land on her dirt bike. This summer with her father and brother she is partaking in a 2,000 mile dirt bike journey from Tennessee to Oregon.
Another one of Alex's passions is snowboarding and occasionally skiing. Over the past few years Alex became certified as a snowboard and ski instructor and taught lessons at the "mountain" a few minutes’ drive from her house. Except "mountain” isn't the exactly what she said, rather she pointed out, "I'm from the Midwest...it's more like snow covered hay stacks."
Currently, Alex is studying International Business, Spanish, and Art History at DU and after graduation she plans on sticking around Colorado because she loves the mountains so much. Someday Alex would love to be an art buyer for galleries and museums and maybe eventually open her own gallery. After all, being a business owner runs in her blood.
In the short 30 minutes I had to get to know Alex I learned a lot about her and what she loves to do. She is passionate about being outdoors and her huge heart that is willing to help anyone in need. Our class in cooperation with The Gathering Place is really going to give her a chance to shine, and her ever present laidback personality may be just what one of the ladies at TGP needs in a friend.
Lynzi may have been wearing pink our first day of writing class, but her appearance fails to reveal any insight into her personality or into the type of things that excite her. Lynzi comes from a very small town, Berthoud, where everyone knows everyone and gossip runs rampant. It was this small town with little for entertainment that she says taught her to “appreciate the finer things in life; fast cars and guns”. These are not her only interests that seem to clash with her appearance. On a nice summer day Lynzi won’t be found at the mall or cooped up inside, she’ll be at the pool teaching swimming lessons or revving her dirt bike with her 14 year old brother, who is one of her best friends. Lynzi is very close with her family, and having a family originally from Michigan, it would not be uncommon to find them in their living room watching a hockey game and cheering on the Red Wings.
ReplyDeleteLynzi’s love of the mountains has kept her in Colorado to finish her education, but her aspirations for the future are a lot bigger than the mountains she loves so much. Lynzi is studying criminology and Spanish to hopefully, one day, become an FBI agent intent on remedying the problem of Spanish drug cartels or Middle Eastern relations. As she puts it; “I want to make a difference. That may sound stupid and like I’m in a Miss America pageant, but I want to do something worth while”, and “The U.S. May be one of the greatest nations, but we don’t have the greatest ties with other nations”.
It is clear that with her love of community that stems from her life in a small town and being part of a tight knit family, that Lynzi will find working with the gathering place very worth while. It seems that this service learning opportunity may be just the right it for Lynzi.
Sierra Morales
ReplyDeleteSierra is a friendly student at the University of Denver. Having grown up here in Denver, Sierra is comfortable with the hustle and bustle of the city. She currently is studying Criminology & Sociology, and is minor-ing in Spanish and Wellness.
If I could describe Sierra in one word it would be: compassionate, but also unique, and adventurous come to mind. Family seems to be a strong tenant in her life -travelling from Denver to Las Vegas or Texas to be together- she lives with her mother, grandmother and two younger brothers. Growing up did have some tension and Sierra became interested in the roles of people in society. She was set on studying sociology until she took a class on society and crime, and made the switch to criminology. To her home isn’t a physical entity. Home is “where you are safe”, it is 'emotional place' where you are "free to express yourself".
Sierra is a licensed hairstylist, and enjoys it very much. The satisfaction she gets out of styling peoples hair is: always meeting new people and seeing people become excited and rejuvenated when her work is done.
For the future Sierra wants a job that helps other people and to bring a smile to someone’s face. Other considerations for the future are to travel. Sierra is adventurous, in she has always wanted to study abroad in Spain, and if she could travel anywhere she would travel 'everywhere'. When asked what she enjoys about travel Sierra responded: “learning about different cultures”.
Sierra is a perfect representation of yin and yang. She is grounded in her life with family and her conception of home, but also ready to explore the world. She has a wild side in her addiction to tattoos and piercings, but Sierra is kind and ready to help others. This class is perfect in providing an opportunity for Sierra to “bring a smile to someone’s face”.
Brooke comes to the University of Denver from Carbondale, Colorado. Being intrigued by all of the social sciences, she has decided to major in the category of social science emphasizing three major stems of the sciences, for example sociology, psychology, and criminology. Brooke’s family is very important to her in regards as keeping in touch and having a connection with family members which is difficult to maintain while away at college. Brooke currently resides on the social justice living and learning community. She enjoys the other members of the social justice community because the other members are friendly and inviting towards her, even though she may not participate in all of the activities. Brooke enjoys bluegrass music. At first I had no idea what bluegrass music would sound like but Brooke describes the music as “country but more skillful.” Getting to know Brooke a little more, I discovered that she is entertaining the idea of becoming tattooed. She wants to have a tribute to her home town, Carbondale. Brooke considers Carbondale home, because of the atmosphere and the community. The community frames her and has become her identity.
ReplyDeleteBeing a fellow Coloradoan from Carbondale, CO, Alex Heinig was very personable and easy to talk to. He described Carbondale as a small hippie town near many ski areas, which he takes full advantage of. He also spends much of his time hunting, paintballing, airsofting, and playing with his newly acquired blowgun. Being one of his favorite things to do, Alex goes on to say "I don't like to kill animals unless I eat them." He graduated from Roaring Fork High School in a class of about 50. To explain how close his class was, he told a story about how everyone in his class worked together on their senior prank and stole street signs and real estate signs and filled their hallways with them. Alex is an International Studies/Political Science major with a minor in Development. His passion for these studies stemmed from his parents, having had to listen to NPR constantly on the radio or from different sources on the internet. He is also fluent in Spanish, wanting to study abroad in either Spain or Venezuela. He explained how many people he went to school with spoke Spanish: "having such a small group since 1st grade....we took some of their mannerisms." He participated in a lot of service learning, including but not limited to his involvement in Boy Scouts. He became an Eagle Scout after his bridge and path building project he organized. Alex says that he hasn't focused much on homelessness, but is very open to this class. He likes to think on a broader scale, acting more globally than locally. He seems ready and waiting to begin this service learning project.
ReplyDeleteJason Zhang, born in upstate New York, currently lives in our very own Highlands Ranch, Colorado. His family, originally from a small city near Shanghai, China, is now spread out. Jason still has family back in China, and a cousin back in New York. Jason has lived many places, from New York to Colorado Springs to Highlands Ranch. He visits China once in a while, and can speak Chinese with his family. “Colorado is home,” Jason says after describing all of places he has lived and visited. He justifies this simply by claiming that his love for Colorado stems from his ardor for skiing.
ReplyDeleteEnsuring to stay in our mountainous state, Jason came to the University of Denver to study Biochemistry. After taking numerous science and math advanced placement classes in high school, he easily determined that this was what he wanted to study in college. Jason also developed another passion in high school; after participating in cross-country, track, and soccer, Jason Zhang obviously has fervor for sports. He has developed this passion even further by volunteering at sporting events. Clearly, Jason loves to volunteer because he can intertwine his passion into it. He has also volunteered at a hospital. For his intended major, this volunteer experience has not only helped others, but allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of the medical field. Although Jason does not have any immediate ties to the subject of this service learning, it is evident that he will discover a way to link his passion to the class.
I had the wonderful opportunity to interview with Hadley Morrow. She is from Spokane, Washington. She is a strong individual not only physically but also emotionally. She has had her tough times and they have made her proactive and willing to help others in many ways. Due to her experiences and active community service in high school this class caught her attention, especially helping women and children. She has many ambitions: she enjoys politics and through this she will change the world to be “the future president”. Her major now is political science and international studies minor. She is also looking into religious studies or public policy. Hadley will be successful in her future endeavors because of her strong values.
ReplyDeleteKarate plays a big role in her life, the people she has interacted with through karate are like her family and from them she has strong morals. Hadley has earned a black belt and has had the magnificent opportunity to train and teach in Okinawa, Japan. This trip was and continues to be very meaningful to her because it was the birthplace of Karate. She has learned about the many traditions, and Karate is a huge element of her, it part of her “home”. “Home is a safe place with love”. For the moment Denver is home, her floor is her comfort and she is grounded. After college she may not stay in Denver but she will do great things! She is hoping to better understand the mechanics of writing such as grammar and spelling to “comfortably integrate them into her writing so it no longer seems like a chore”.
Two tattoos. One fierce black Jaguar with the word “courage” in Vietnamese transcribed above it, the second of a phoenix on her shoulder which represents her grandfather who passed away. These tattoos help to demonstrate Nicole's outgoing personality, but they only begin to describe our classmate who grew up in Aurora Denver. Nicole loves city life, not necessarily going out to movies or restaurants, but the quick moving atmosphere that somewhat defines how she runs her life. Nicole jokingly states that, “School is kinda my life ever since I entered high school.” At DU, she is part of the wellness living and learning community and is participating in our new multi-cultural sorority. She is majoring in Sociology but has plans for law school in the future. Her passion for law corresponds with her work at the Gateway battered woman's service in Denver. Here, Nicole mostly works with the court and counseling aspect of the program, giving options to help the lives of women who have been domestically abused. Although she is one of the youngest who works for this organization, Nicole has found a loving community within it and never feels inferior to her older co-workers. Nicole's passion for these issues takes up most of her time and with school it sometimes seems like too much. She is excited to learn more about homelessness through this class because it effects many of the women she comes into contact with.
ReplyDeleteLeslie Moorman has been playing music since the 2nd grade when her grandma enrolled her in piano lessons. Even from only 10 minutes of talking with her it is easy to tell that music is an integral part of her life. The movie Music of the Heart inspired her to take on the violin, so she joined an orchestra and started lessons. When the orchestra found itself needing viola players, she eagerly volunteered to switch instruments. She is also experienced in jazz bass and guitar, saying “my goal is to know everything about music”.
ReplyDeleteLeslie came to DU hoping to obtain a Bachelor of music in viola performance. However, she was faced with a challenge when she was not accepted into the music program. Although disappointed, Leslie has not let this stop her. Currently she is working on a major in international studies with a minor in German. However, this serves as more of a back up plan. While she is interested in these topics, her passion for them does not compare to her passion for music, and she says she is “…going to fight as hard as [she] can for music.”
Leslie came here from Ames, Iowa, a much smaller town compared to Denver. “It’s nice seeing people I’ve known since I was 5 everyday, but you don’t get any new perspectives.” She has noticed that homelessness is more apparent in Denver than her hometown, and she has some strongly developed thoughts on the issue, saying that she “hates when people say that homelessness is caused by people being lazy.” As Iowa public schools have a 20 hour service learning requirement, Leslie is familiar with service learning, volunteering at her local hospital back home, but she is excited to do more.
As a writer, Leslie enjoys the work. She loves to read, research, and analyze. She says she is striving to improve her skills as a writer and researcher because she knows they are tools she will need if she does not accomplish her musical goals. It is clear she is ready and willing to push herself. I find her determination inspiring, and I feel confident that this hard working, calculated, young woman will be able to accomplish anything she sets her mind too.
Devon,
ReplyDeleteDevon, a first year student at the University of Denver from Denver, has commonly thought the word “home” to be a “flexible” term due to the amount of times he and his family have moved. As Devon describes his immediate and the close relationship they have, it is understandable why he associates home with the location of his family. Devon arrived to DU with strong interests in creative writing and has since then taken a shift in direction toward communications, but he continues to enjoy writing and looks forward to what this course has in store. As a communications major, Devon has taken interests in pop culture and art, as well as music. Pop culture and art is defined in various, yet Devon understands pop culture to be “ideas of fame and advertising”. Devon has commonly seen social settings and the nature of people from an outsider’s perspective, and plays a role in his perspectives in pop culture. Devon enjoys the sound and lyrics of Nina Simone, a jazz artist and activist, whose musical topics usually concerned the struggles and realities of the world.
Throughout the interview, I understood Devon to be a great listener and interviewer which could be crucial skills to have when working with the homeless women. Not only would he listen but he put in the effort to empathize with my answers to his questions, and actually revealed similarities he and I shared.
Claire Whitt
ReplyDeleteClaire Witt is from Mantu Springs CO. Mantu Springs is small but for those who don’t know where it is it’s near Pike’s Peak. Though she has lived there for a long time she had yet to conquer the Peak, though he has hiked up it. Mantu Springs by her account is somewhat of a hippy town where you can see the hill hippies ie those that can braid there armpit hair. She work’s normally as a tourist guide for those who wish to brave the Cave of the Winds. This is a popular tourist spot and for those who think they recognize the name, it was featured in the man-bear-pig episode of South Park. Like my town there are few thing sto do but she spends her time going to shows, participating in theater events and other artistic things. She has recently become enamored with meditation and she espouses that it is not as simple as saying ohm… but it is a discipline test that calms you. She is not a vegetarian but she only eats poultry fish etc. no red meat. In regards to school, her major is Gender and Women’s Studies. I was confused as to what that entailed and she told me it deals with how women are affected and affect their environment. For instance she has a class on the commoditizing of women in hip-hop and rap. In high school she was extremely active, participating in National Honor Society, environmental club and Peace Jam. Peace Jam was created from the Invisible Children movie and had the goal of bringing the world to the school so suffering is not so distant. She is a self-declared people person and its a good thing because she is taking French. She seem to truly care for those who need care and I think this class will be a prefect fit.
Posted by Alex Heinig