First-Year Writing Showcase

The Spring 2021 First-Year Writing Showcase

Each semester, the First-Year Writing program invites program faculty to nominate student writers whose work shines for features like idea development, critical thinking, organization, voice, creativity, language use, and writing and research processes. A faculty panel reviewed the nominated works and selected twelve pieces reflecting a variety of genres, including Narrative, Rhetorical Analysis, and Research Argument. This semester’s selections represent writers enrolled ENGL 10300 The Essay; ENGL 11100 College Writing 1; and ENGL 11200 College Writing 2—offering a variety of relevant ideas and perspectives, including themes from this year’s Common Reader anthology. We hope you enjoy meeting these writers and listening to their voices and ideas through their written work.

The Spring 2021 Showcase Writers

A. Cymone Arceo
"1, 2, 3, Cheese!"
The Essay, Ms. Therese Jones


Daniel Arimi
"We Are All in This Together"
College Writing 2, Dr. Thomas McNamara


Dominick Bartels
"Rhetorical Analysis of How the Pandemic Defeated America"
College Writing 2, Mr. Kevin Meek


Akbar Faruqi
"The Greatest"
College Writing 1, Dr. Jennifer Fife


Andrea Martinez
"Corporate Farming: A Threat to All"
College Writing 2, Dr. Richard Foss


Ahmad Salah
"The Hidden Crime"
College Writing 2, Dr. Wallace Ross


Dayanna Sanchez
"Knowledgeable Minds Could Save Our Plant"
College Writing 1, Dr. Richard Foss


Anna Sebastian
"Reductions of Implicit Racial Bias as Remedies for Changing Negative Perceptions of Interracial Relationships"
College Writing 2, Mr. Andrew Lenaghan


Erin Stevenson
"Writing as a Creative Outlet"
College Writing 1, Ms. Therese Jones


Patricia Timmins
"My Information Literacy Journey"
College Writing 2, Dr. Richard Foss


Dennis K. Vargas
"How Years of Macho Food Marketing is Killing Men"
College Writing 2, Dr. Ana Roncero-Bellido


Alexandria K. Wilson
"Black Women Will Prevail"
College Writing 2, Mr. Andrew Lenaghan



Additional Showcase Nominees

  • Kae Seana Barth-Lofton (Mr. Kevin Meek)
  • Theo Bronwasser (Dr. Richard Foss)
  • Brandon Diaz (Ms. Therese Jones)
  • Kelly Dobson (Dr. Richard Foss)
  • Emily Flatness (Mr. Kevin Meek)
  • Paige Hawkinson (Dr. Richard Foss)
  • Makenzie Hollis (Dr. Thomas McNamara)
  • Samantha Novakovic (Dr. Tommy Pfannkoch)
  • Devon Pulido (Dr. Thomas McNamara)
  • Gaby Ramos (Professor Richard Foss)
  • Audrey Reed (Mr. Kevin Meek)
  • Patricia Timmins (Dr. Richard Foss)
  • Karlie Wilken (Dr. Ana Roncero-Bellido)

Thank You

Thank you to all of our writers for creating and sharing their work. And thank you to all who directly support our first-year writers: our instructors, the Writing Center staff, and the Library Research instructors. We appreciate all you do to support first-year writers. And many thanks to our program Graduate Assistant, Crystal Zepeda, for all her help in coordinating the Showcase process.

Congratulations to all of our nominated and selected writers. Keep writing!

Sheila M. Kennedy, Ph.D.
Professor of English Studies
Director of the First-Year Writing Program

"Write, and your world
will explode with meaning."

--Donald M. Murray

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