Distinction in Writing Booklet

Distinction in Writing

Megan Smith • 2012

Distinction in Writing Portfolio

Dear Writing Department Faculty, Students, and All Others:

Thank you for taking the time to read about my experiences and work in the field of writing. The following pages outline the ways I have supplemented my formal education through internships, volunteer experiences, and jobs. Within each section I give a brief overview and background of individuals works, including a thumbnail or example of the pieces described. As many of my projects are web-based or include mutliple pages, I am including a cd, which includes all projects described wthin this portfolio.

I hope that my work may influence ideas for future writing students. Thank you, again for you consideration in the Distinction process.

Cheers!

Megan Smith

WritingAmong

Disciplines

WritingAmong

Disciplines

Writing Among Disciplines

Working as a Web Editor for the Sustainability InitiativeWhen I accepted the job as web editor for the GVSU Sustainable Community Development Initiative (SCDI), I knew little of the university’s sustainability work around the campus. Though I was supported by a phenomenal staff, a large part this job was acquainting myself with the field and the work going on around campus. Furthermore, the SCDI’s partnership with the City of Grand Rapids’ Office of Energy and Sustainability put me at the forefront of creating the department’s new web site. With only minimal prior knowledge, I spent almost as much time (initially) researching as writing and designing.

In addition to managing the SCDI site and creating both the Campus Sustainability Week site and Office of Energy and Sustainability site, I conducted interviews and wrote articles for the SCDI Spotlights.

Created website for Campus Sustainability Week

www.gvsu.edu/csw

Redesigned and wrote content for Sustainable Community Development Initiative Website

www.gvsu.edu/sustainability


Redesigned and wrote content for Grand Rapids Office of Energy and Sustainability websitewww.sustainablegr.com


Hoophouse will Allow Extended Growing Season at Grand ValleyBy Megan Smith

After a year and a half of research, fundraising, and numerous cross-discipline discussions, Grand Valley’s first hoophouse has finally become a reality. Beginning construction on August 12th, Levi Gardner, GVSU Sustainable Agriculture Project Manager and a group of volunteers finished construction in three days. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday, August 19th.

For those unfamiliar with the term “hoophouse,” it functions much like a greenhouse except its only source of energy is the sun. While greenhouses allow less transportation pollution and offer an opportunity for non-farmers to grow their own produce, many still require a good deal of energy to run. Overhead lamps and heaters—both which require an alternative energy source—are used to create an artificial growing season in the winter months. Hoophouses, in contrast, rely solely on the sun. A double layer outer wall allows more heat to be trapped and thus a warmer growing environment for the plants inside. Most significantly though, “Hoophouses are intended to extend the growing season, not avoid it,” emphasized Gardner. With the newly constructed hoophouse, farming will be able to continue into December, and the new growing season will be able to begin as early as February.

This is exciting news for individuals like John DeRuiter, GVSU’s Farm Club President. When asked what inspired him to push for the hoophouse, he stated, “The hoophouse is the best way to farm on campus during the winter. I liked the idea of the hoophouse because it gave us a chance to extend Farm Club into the school year. There is quite a bit of interest among students to be involved with Farm Club, but so many of them leave


GVSU for the summer, so this was the best way to get people involved year round.”

The process was a combined financial effort between the Student Senate on behalf of the Farm Club, Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies (BCOIS), and the College of Liberal Arts & Studies (CLAS), coordinated by Gardner. Each supported a portion of the total $16,000 bill, making the dream of a Grand Valley hoophouse a reality.

While the Farm Club will be able to take advantage of the new facility, Gardner hopes it will also be a place for educating students on sustainable farming practices. In addition to class visits, the hoop house will be a place for student interns to gain hands-on knowledge of agriculture techniques. “Eventually, I would love to see more research come from the hoop house,” Gardner stated.

For now, though, the focus is on getting the first planting season under way. The hoophouse is located at the GVSU Sustainable Agriculture Project on Luce St. For more information on sustainable agriculture practices and volunteering opportunities, check out the Sustainable Agriculture Project and Farm Club web sites.


Writingin Off-Campus

Communities

Writingin Off-Campus

Communities

Writing in Off-Campus CommunitiesVolunteer Teacher at Dayspring Children’s VillageFrom May to August 2008, I volunteered at a small rural school for disadvantaged youth in Maanharrand, South Africa. I spent the majority of my time working with students ages 7-18 in the one room schoolhouse. Though I helped teach mathematics, sciences, and history, the most personally rewarding work was helping the older students with their writing. I had the opportunity to work one-on-one with these students and explain writing technique and paragraph/sentence construction. Though I had yet to become a writing consultant at GVSU, this experience put words to the my writing process, helping me better understand my own work.

After my summer at Dayspring Children’s Village, I continued my involvement by creating documents for the nonprofit organization. Reflecting on the application process I had gone through, I believed it could be more effective and more persuasive if the form was designed and formatted differently. I created a five-page volunteer application (see full document on disk) based on the content from the original document. I sent this to my contacts at the organization, and it has been the official application since.

Created a volunteer application for Dayspring Children’s Village in Maanhaarrand, South Africa.

Continued on next pages.

Writing in Off-Campus Communities


Page 2 of the Volunteer Application.


Page 3 of the Volunteer Application.

WritingAcross

Cultures

Writing Across CulturesVolunteered Conversation Partner at English Language ServicesDuring the Winter 2010 Semester, I partnered with an ELS student originally from Thailand. Sorawich and I met every week for at least one hour. During this time we talked about cultural differences, school work, and general conversation topics. When Sorawich struggled over a word or English concept, I explained either the reasons or rules behind it and how it functioned in conversation versus writing. I also partnered with a Suadi Arabian ELS student named Amani for the Fall 2011 semester. Though the process was similar to that with Sorawich, the cultural differences between Thailand and Saudi Arabia made the interaction completely unique. Though the concentration of the partnership wasn’t writing focused, I learned how to better communicate with those outside of my own culture which has aided me as a writing consultant and prepared me for work in an international nonprofit.

Taught Writing at Dayspring Children’s Village, South AfricaAs stated previously, I served as a volunteer teacher at Day Spring Children’s Village in South Africa for three months. Though the children’s studies were in English, most knew at least four or five independent languages and often integrated them in both their speech and their writing. Part of the challenge associated with the volunteer position was to understand what the children were trying to communicate so I could better serve and teach.

WritingFor

Publication

Writing for PublicationEditing and Publishing in InWriting NewsletterFor two years, I contributed to the Writing Department’s InWriting Newsletter by both writing and editing articles. My first article, published in Winter 2010, reported on the GVSU’s Writing Department becoming the home institution for the Council of Writing Program Administrators. My second article, published Winter 2011, was a reflective piece on my internship experience at Women At Risk, International. In addition, I participated in three InWriting editing sessions.

Conducted InDesign Professional Development Workshop for Writing Center StaffIn addition to consulting at the GVSU Writing Center, I also helped organize web content on the Center’s web site and created Writing Center documents in InDesign. To help “pass the design torch,” I preapred and will conduct an InDesign Training Workshop. This workshop will introduce returning staff memebers to basic InDesign functions, focusing specifically on designing Writing Center grammar handouts and Genre Guides.

Wrote articles for the Writing Department’s InWriting Newsletter

Writing for Publication

WritingAs a

Professional

WritingAs a

Professional

Writing as a ProfessionalHeartland Asphalt Safety NewslettersAs a high school student, I spent my summers working as an office assistant at Heartland Asphalt, Inc. One of my tasks was to create a monthly safety newsletter, which was sent to all company employees. After I left my job to begin college, the company asked me if I would continue to design and write these newsletters. The design and content has changed throughout my six years working on the newsletters, and this past year I began incorporating an employee spotlight section, which required phone interviews. Through this experience I have learned how to craft messages for a particular audience, as well as learned how to manage freelance writing work.

Design Projects at Women At Risk, InternationalBeginning as a volunteer and working my way up to a hired writing position, I have had the opportunity to create a number of documents and articles for the nonprofit organization Women At Risk, International. My first project was a small information card sent out to partnering businesses, which designed and wrote voluntarily. This project led to a writing internship where I created a number of documents including a prayer booklet, product handouts, and various brochures. When my internship ended in April 2011, WAR, Int’l asked me to join their team by working part-time in writing, design, and web. The staff position has granted me more freedom within projects and greater responsibilities. Additionally, the job is collaborative in nature, allowing me to work with product managers, writers, volunteer coordinators, and interns. I have gained more writing and design experience in this internship/job than perhaps anywhere else. A collection of some of my documents follow.

Writing as a ProfessionalWriting Consultant at Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan AuthorsAt the conclusion of this semester, I will have served for three years as a writing consultant at the GVSU Writing Center. I have conducted one-on-one consultations in the Center, facilitated WRT 150 and WRT 098 peer response groups, and served as a peer consultant in a classroom setting. While the consulting position in general has taught me to verbalize the writing process, facilitating group work has taught me leadership principles that will help me in my future career. As a consultant, also helped manage and organize content on the Center’s web site.

InDesign Documents for Writing CenterDuring my second year as a GVSU writing consultant, my supervisor asked me to help create and redesign InDesign documents for the Writing Center. For this, I considered general design techniques (spacing, grouping, etc.) in order to make the documents as effective in communicating as possible. As a final task in this project, I will be conducting an InDesign workshop to train returning consultants to carry out this work.

Writing as a ProfessionalDesigned at wrote monthly safety newsletter for Heartland Asphalt, Inc.

Writing as a Professional

Writing as a ProfessionalCreated various brochures while employed by Women At Risk, International

Writing as a Professional

Writing as a ProfessionalRedesigned grammar and usage handouts for GVSU Writing Center

Writing as a ProfessionalDesigned and formatted Math Genre Guide for GVSU Writing Center