Memoir piece from Memoir and Personal Writing for the applied category. The memoir explored the dissonance in reconciling my current self as someone who grew up in a different world. I had rarely spoken of events described in this piece to anyone: friends or otherwise. I wrote this over 10 weeks, trying to make these experiences make sense to myself and others. It explored the effect of memory and experience, and how this effort was hindered. I am now far removed geographically and personally from where I grew up. I try to make sense of these personal experiences through scientific theory. In many cases, creative nonfiction uses a container to share personal experiences. Science functioned as an informal container to link my memories.

Creative Nonfiction piece focused on my journey in college and highlighted my struggles in becoming a scientist. Its primary function is to define what it means to be a scientist and its effect on my identity. I wrote this for Creative Writing (ENGL 1000) for the applied writing category as my final written submission for my undergraduate degree. Reflection and graduation defined this work, even as it is a part two of the memoir I wrote two years prior. This work has similar themes of reconciling personal experiences through scientific theory. A direct rhetorical letter was the container for this piece, whereas the memoir piece lacked a formal container. 

Formal IMRAD submission of my scientific research into host-microbe interactions in freshwater sponges. The research was one of my projects in the Nichols lab. Submission of research findings in a formal paper is a requirement for the distinction in the major in Biochemistry. 

Stylistic revision of my thesis into a journalistic feature for Associated Press News. My goals were to convert the thesis into a form that could exercise brevity, creativity, and simplicity of my findings. Effective science communication was the hardest part of this transition, where most of the writing process was focused. 

Stylistic and historical analysis of Modern writing styles in "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Waste Land". This piece for Theories of Writing examines writing in an IMRAD format. This combination of a scientific format and discussion of poetry and prose proved difficult but ultimately worked.

Creative Nonfiction perspective about the metal sculpture in front of the University of Denver campus library on Carnegie Green. The sculpture, named "Bullet Proof Campus Art", has parallels to the multiple protests taken place on DU's campus. This piece for Theories of Writing draws connections between the protests of the Vietnam War and genocide in Palestine. Revised for this portfolio for clarity.

Reflection piece from Digital Rhetorics to discuss the function and meaning of the internet. This course proved that since the internet is so personalized based on use and identity, I can only analyze these dimensions from my perspective. Originally posted here on Medium under @runes-taken, revised to upload to this website. 

Deconstruction of my writing choices and process on my memoir (submitted in 2024) as a separate assignment for the Writing Minor Capstone. Originally formatted as individual comments to my professor on a copy of my memoir. I changed these comments to address a more universal audience, formatted in paragraphs as a foreward to the piece.

Renewable energy proposal involving data analysis on the addition of other renewable energy sources and their placement on and around Rottnest Island (RI). RI is located ~20 miles west of Perth, Western Australia. During my study abroad in Perth, I took a course called Energy from Oceans at UWA that covered renewable energy sources available and the extent to which Australia and other countries have implemented these. This energy proposal was the final project for the Western Australian government to change the RI infrastructure to be in accordance with their Net Zero Plan by 2050.  

An interactive project from Digital Rhetorics to recreate the meaning that the internet has created for us. The assignment: start from scratch and redesign the internet in any medium using only analog tools. This could be any format as long as its analog to discuss the function and meaning of the internet. My project is inside a photoalbum thast collages pictures and writing that have been influential for me as I grew up with the internet and how I continue to use it today. To digitize, I took a picture of each page and uploaded it to Medium in order. Originally posted here on Medium under @runes-taken, converted to PDF for this website.