Honors Experiences
Honors seminar and study tour focused on art, architecture, and engineering in Italy and Ancient Rome. Completed Spring 2023.
Honors seminar condensed into a 5-week course, focused on developing critical thinking skills, analytical writing, and honing the writing process.
Upcoming experience
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Self-designed experience writing and editing an original, feature-length screenplay, as well as formatting to industry standards.
Upcoming experience- STRANGE TOOLS
Current honors seminar and study tour focused on combining different perspectives/ways of thinking with art and philosophy to spark change within society. Includes a study trip to the Netherlands to further explore the use of "Strange Tools" in the world.
Upcoming experience
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The Roman Experience- Spring 2023
I have always dreamed of traveling the world and experiencing different cultures. The thrill of trying new foods, meeting new people, and seeing extraordinary sites and landmarks you have only ever read about or seen in movies enticed me. This honors experience exposed me to a world of possibilities beyond the classroom. The Roman Experience was an honors seminar centered around the history, art, architecture, and engineering in Italy, specifically in ancient Rome. When I first applied to this class and eventually was accepted to the course, I didn’t know what to expect. The class itself was a lecture and discussion-based course where, each Wednesday evening, we would learn about the amazing achievements and marvels of ancient Rome. At first, the class was normal. But at it progressed and we shifted from the foundations of the history of Italy to specific sites and stories we would see in person at the end of the semester, my perspective changed. I was bewildered by the fact that I was actually going to see something as iconic as the Colosseum, for example, in real life.
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This course and experience overall exceeded my expectations. The value of experiencing things I learned about in class in real life is unmatched. Within 10 day we were able to see all the major landmarks and historical sites in Rome. For our first 2 nights we were in Naples. There, we saw Pompeii, Herculaneum (one of my favorite sites), the National Archeological Museum and so much more. It was my first taste of not only Italy, but Europe and International culture. After 2 unforgettable nights in Naples, we traveled to Rome, where we spent the rest of our trip. Rome was easily one of my favorite places I have ever been. Being an architecture major in a city full of some of the most ancient and breathtaking buildings in the world was the most valuable experience of all. I was able to see art, architecture and history in person that changed the world and the course of history. That is something you can’t get in a classroom and is also what makes this class so amazing.
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This class had two big projects at the end- one being a journal that we wrote in after each class and brought with us to Italy to write about our experiences each day. This was a fun project to look back on and reread. I was able to remember and almost relive some of my favorite memories from the class. The other project was a final project that we had creative freedom with- it just had to showcase something we learned and experienced during the trip. I decided to use skills I had picked up in my other classes for architecture in this project and do a sketchbook while in Italy. Below, I have added a few of my favorite sketches I created for this project. Overall, I found this course and experience very valuable and feel grateful and overjoyed I was able to participate.
SKETCHES- FINAL PROJECT
Writing a Screenplay- Fall 2023/Spring 2024
THE EXPERIENCE
This self-designed experience focused on writing and editing a feature length film script. I challenged myself to create an original screenplay and format it to industry standard with screenwriting software.
SYNOPSIS
This coming-of-age drama focuses on the life and friendship of two teenage girls who have just graduated high school. They decide to embark on a journey together to Europe to spend one last summer together before college. However, their trip takes lots of unexpected turns and they gain a new clarity about each other, themselves and their purpose in life.
REFLECTION
15 years ago, I walked into a large dark room with rows and rows of seats facing a large screen. Not knowing what to expect, I sat next to my mom and started eating my freshly buttered popcorn. All of a sudden, the screen flashed, the lights dimmed, and I was absolutely transported. When I was 10, I watched the Oscar’s for the first time. I could feel the magic of the highly anticipated award show through the screen. I devoured every moment of it like I was media starved. Movie magic was real to me then and remains real now. Films have the power to influence generations, holding love, truth, power, comedy, and so much more. I can confidently say that there are many movies that shaped who I am as a person.
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Fast forward to about a year ago. I was doing homework, listening to the song “The Dog Days are Over” by Florence and the Machine. As the chorus blasted in my headphones, I thought to myself: wow, this song feels like a movie. I think I played that song at least 15 more times that day alone. Shortly after, I came up with the idea to write this screenplay. This screenplay is a story of youth, love, loss, and friendship. It is a coming-of-age drama based around two teenage girls who have just graduated high school. Together, they decide to go on a trip to Europe the summer before they start college. However, their trip doesn’t go as planned and they end up learning more about each other than they ever thought possible.
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This self-designed experience was purely a passion project from the beginning. I love movies so much, so having the opportunity to write a feature length script was unreal. I learned so much about the formatting of screenplays, the time and effort put into them, and the steps to make it into a real movie. While production isn’t part of my self-designed experience, I am going to try to take this screenplay to the next stages, by attempting to sell it or get it produced. I learned a lot about myself in this process as well. I feel a connection to this story and these characters- not for the experiences they have but the emotions they experience. The growth of the main character, Merina, lies especially close to my heart. Her journey with Penny and in the final scenes of the script is some of the rawest material I have ever put on paper. My hope is that this story does get produced in some way, so it has the chance to impact people as other movies have impacted me.
This experience deeply impacted me. Before writing this screenplay, I already had an intense love for movies and the film industry. But upon completing this project, I have a greater appreciation for screenwriters and storytellers. Additionally, I enjoyed this experience so much that I have decided to pursue a Screenwriting Certificate at UC!
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Moving forward, the dream is to bring this story to life on the big screen. Whether that means selling it or finding a producer to work with, I know I want this story to heard. It will always hold a special place in my heart as my first screenplay, and I hope someday it’s able to touch others in the ways I intended. Successfully writing this screenplay has also given me the confidence to say I could do it again and write more if I want to. Overall, this project has impacted me greatly, from my perspective on film to my appreciation for the great storytellers. I’m proud of this accomplishment and excited for what the future holds!
REFLECTION WITH SCREENPLAY SPOILERS
Part of me knew from the conception of this idea that there was no way this movie was meant to have a happy ending. One of my all-time favorite films is La La Land, so I took the inspiration of a bittersweet ending and tried to apply it within my own work. While Penny’s death may seem sudden, the subtleties of her disease throughout the screenplay become apparent once the severity is revealed, and her descent towards mortality provides clarity to Merina about their friendship, her impact on Merina’s life, and Merina’s purpose beyond their friendship. I had a pretty good idea of the plot and progression of the story when I began writing. The biggest challenges were researching Penny’s disease to have maximized accuracy, tying together the big moments with the smaller scenes, and the funeral scene as a whole. I think the funeral scene took at least a week to truly get to a place I was happy with. Not just Merina’s monologue, but also her reaction, her family’s reactions, and Ben’s monologue. All of that combined makes it (in my opinion) the most emotionally charged and heavy scene in the whole screenplay.
READ IT!
Read the full screenplay at the link below.
Intermediate Composition 2089
Coming into this class with an already developed passion for writing made me greatly appreciate the skills I gained over this 5-week course. At the beginning of the course, we set several goals for ourselves, identifying our strengths and weaknesses as writers. I knew I enjoyed writing already, but a big issue I previously experienced when writing is not knowing where to start my process. This class helped me hone in on a specific process that works for me, alternating between brainstorming, rough drafts and listed plans. I exponentially developed my writing skills through the process of drafts- something I hadn't fully explored before. The idea of completely rewriting something was hard for me to comprehend and agree with, but this class helped me realize that it is a key part of the writing process to investigate every perspective and route your writing can take. This class involved three main essays, two smaller, focused and one larger, broader. The topic we analyzed was discourse communities. I decided to write about a personal experience I had in a discourse community. Overall, I learned a lot of important skills from this class that will be reflected in future writing and were very valuable to my growth as a writer. Below I have linked the final essay for the class, as I believe it to be the best representation of the skills I gained by the end of this course.