Writing Samples
I have highlighted a few of my writing projects. If you would like to view the whole piece, please use the corresponding button to open a PDF of the full document.
1 News Article
Sample:
I wrote a multimedia news article that included photographs and links. The topic of the article is international students at the University of Mary.
Around 100 students come from 30 countries every year to receive an education rooted in Benedictine values at the University of Mary.
The University of Mary has extended its community to international student athletes since 2003, said Shelby Imdieke, assistant director of international services. The first international students were from Jamaica and came to the University of Mary for sports.
“The community is really special here with the international students,” said Arria Johnson, a freshman softball player from Graham, Washington, who is majoring in biomechanics. “It makes it really neat to hear their stories and build relationships with them.”
The University of Mary’s sports programs recruit around 50 international students every year. The women’s soccer team had five international players for the fall 2022 season. “I add the European soccer style to the team,” said Rian “Rio” Spruenken, a freshman soccer player from Krefeld, Germany, who is majoring in biology and psychology. “German soccer players focus on their ball skills, while Americans play more physical.” These differences strengthen the team, and “everybody gains from it,” Spruenken said.
2 News Article
Sample:
In this news article, I wrote about the founding of a new club at the University of Mary. I had the opportunity to interview the student who started the club, along with another student who joined.
At the start of the 2022 fall semester, a University of Mary student created a tennis club for students wanting to play tennis recreationally.
Gannon Steffes, a University of Mary sophomore student and founder and president of this club, organized the first event on Sept. 9, 2022.
“I’ve always had a love for tennis and after high school, I wanted to continue to play the sport,” Steffes said. He previously played on the Fargo South High School tennis team.
Steffes said most colleges have a men’s tennis team or tennis club. However, the University of Mary had only a women’s tennis team. “I decided that creating a club myself would be a great way to keep playing the sport,” he said.
The tennis club meets every Friday evening. They play on the campus’s outdoor courts when the weather allows. Otherwise, the club plays indoors at the Mandan Tennis Center. Steffes offers a ride to students without vehicles. The club works with the campus dining services to fundraise throughout the year to cover indoor court fees. Therefore, the club avoids membership fees.
3 Case Study
Sample:
For the Red Bull's "Stratos" campaign, I wrote a case study that provided information on the campaign and analysis on the message it provided to the public.
Red Bull, an energy drink brand, created its “Stratos” campaign that highlighted a historic free fall by Felix Baumgartner on October 14, 2012. The campaign was launched to break barriers and surpass human limits. Red Bull wanted to reinforce its identity with extreme sports, sustaining its position as a leader in the energy drink industry. Given Red Bull’s focus on engaging its audience, the campaign can be applied to Relationship Management Theory. Because of the public’s positive reactions, Red Bull’s “Stratos” campaign saw resounding success.
At age sixteen, Austrian daredevil, Felix Baumgartner, was strapped to a parachute and jumped for his first time out of a plane. His journey had hardly begun as he would become a BASE-jumper, and eventually, the face of Red Bull’s “Stratos” campaign in 2012. With his jump on October 14, 2012, he hoped to become the first human outside an aircraft to break the sound barrier. Baumgartner was taken up to space above New Mexico, in a helium balloon, before jumping and falling 127,852.4 feet back to Earth (Majendie). For Red Bull’s execution of the campaign, the brand employed a video-branding strategy that was visually and technologically stunning to connect with its target audience, adrenaline seekers (Rajput). Red Bull is known as a brand that uses daring and creative strategies to strengthen its brand identity. For its “Stratos” campaign, Red Bull was active on social media platforms leading up to the event and shared a live broadcast of the jump for the public (“Case Study on Red Bull”).
4 Big Tech: Artificial
Intelligence
Sample:
In a communication law and ethics course, I wrote a paper researching the use of artificial intelligence. I described the purpose of AI in the workplace and also the ethics of choosing to use it.
Big Tech is an integral part of people’s lives. The term Big Tech refers to the technology companies that dominate the industry due to their “size, influence, and financial success” (Shinde). Given the power these companies have gained over time, their influence on society and the legal landscape is significant (De Schutter). Issues have become prominent as technology advances, making clear the need for communication laws that adapt to the challenges. Artificial intelligence has recently grown in popularity and raised new questions concerning copyright and its connection to communication and the law.
When speaking about Big Tech, a person commonly points to companies like Facebook (Meta), Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft (Tamasiunas). Big Tech critics often target the topics of “egregious data hoarding, market and opinion manipulation, lack of transparent handling of user data, and biased algorithms” (Tamasiunas). Knowing the widespread reach of these companies, their impact on society, specifically for professionals, is critical to study. Humans constantly depend on Big Tech throughout the day. Owning an iPhone, turning on an Apple TV, finding answers on Google, buying items from Amazon, and asking Amazon Alexa questions are all practices that show how much technology has been integrated into our lives (De Schutter).
5 2-Column Script
Sample:
For a studio production class I took, I created a 30-second 2-column script that was ready to be entered into a teleprompter and recorded live.
VIDEO:
LS of narrator
MCU of narrator
Show graphic with schedule of events on both days
AUDIO:
North Dakota's longest running marathon is right around the corner!
The forty third Bismarck Marathon is this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the state Capitol grounds.
On Saturday -- there will be a 5K -- 10K -- mini marathon for kids -- dog race -- and Mascot Dash.
The full -- half -- and relay marathon races will take place on Sunday.
6 Professional Athlete
Branding
Sample:
In a sports communication course, I learned about how a person's brand is formed. I then chose Serena Williams to dive into deeper research on her brand and how it developed.
Serena Williams is a well-known name to many. A champion with twenty-three Grand Slam tournament wins, Williams has become a legend in the world of tennis (Christopher 119). Some argue Williams’ greatest achievement is her breaking the color line in a predominantly white sport (Uschan 7). Not only did she find success on the court but also off the court. The brand of a champion that she has crafted for herself has developed throughout her years of career success, charity generosity, endorsements, brand creation, social media presence, focus on family, and hardships faced. She fights for individuality. Her brand of knowing who she is and her perseverance in doing what is right has been an inspiration to many young athletes determined to find greatness and overcome challenges no matter their background.
On September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, Serena Jameka Williams was born. Oracene Price, Serena’s mother, had three daughters before meeting and marrying Richard Williams, Serena’s father. Their first child together was Venus Ebony Starr Williams who was one year older than Serena. Shortly after Serena was born, the family moved to a small home in Compton, California, a town with high crime rates and violence (Uschan 13).
The year 1984 marked the start of Serena’s tennis career. At the age of three, Serena crawled into the Williams’ van. The whole family went on this outing to the public park. Upon their arrival at the courts, they unloaded balls, racquets, and a broom. The older girls used the broom to clear the broken glass bottles and garbage from the graffiti-filled surface (Christopher 1-2). Although they would go to this park quite often, this time was different. Serena would usually watch from the sidelines as the other girls played, but on this occasion, her father offered her a racquet to play. Her eyes lit up as she walked on the court. The family worked with Serena that morning, helping her swing and contact the ball (Christopher 2-3). Every day following, Serena would practice for two hours with her father on the court (Raum 6).
7 Visual Analysis
Sample:
In a class at the University of Mary, I researched and analyzed a photograph. I chose to study "Migrant Mother".
Personal Perspective
My original reaction to the “Migrant Mother” photograph was sadness and depression. It is dated many years ago, causing it to lack color. I viewed a mother in deep thought and distress with two young children leaning on her while she is holding a baby. The two children on either side of her might be shy or sad since they seem to be hiding their faces. I believed the photograph had a deeper meaning, but I was unsure what that was before researching further.
Historical Perspective
The “Migrant Mother” was photographed in March of 1936 in Nipomo, California (“Farm Security”). The Great Depression spanned the years 1929 to 1939. The time marked the “worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world.” This period of deep despair and distress impacted most Americans, as four million could not find employment by 1930, and six million in 1931. Homelessness became more common, and farmers could not “afford to harvest their crops” (“Great Depression”). In addition, in the 1930s, Native American reservations were faced with severe unemployment with over 50 percent of their people struggling to find work (“Native Americans”).
During this time between 1930 and 1940, the “southwestern Great Plains region of the United States suffered a severe drought” (“Dust Bowl” Library of Congress). This period is referred to as the Dust Bowl or “the Dirty Thirties” (“Dust Bowl” History). Dryland farming and overgrazing caused destruction to prairie grasslands. Strong winds came across the plains, “raising billowing clouds of dust.” Given the impossibility of staying and making a living, farm families moved off their land and abandoned their homes. 400,000 total people left their homes on the Great Plains. They fled to the West and became migrant laborers. Children were starving, and men and women looked for work, homes, and land as they traveled (“Dust Bowl” Library of Congress).
