In this issue, we’re pleased to feature the winners of the Boothe Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing from Fall 2020 and Winter 2021. Please note that the Fall Boothe Prize winner has asked to remain anonymous, and so is not featured on this page. All these students were honored at an online awards ceremony in May 2021; you can view the full Boothe Prize book, complete with students essays and instructor forwards.
In addition, we'd like to recognize the Lunsford Honorees from Fall 2020 and Winter 2021, students who were honored by their instructors for creating excellent oral/multimedia presentations, even when during a time of remote learning. You can view a tribute to their work on the Lunsford website, which also includes links to their complete presentations. You can read more about our student's online presentations from the past year in Jennifer Johnson's Coordinator's Corner article from our March issue.
Anonymous: Boothe Prize Winner (Fall 2020)
The student author of the powerful essay, "When 'Never Again' Becomes 'Yet Again': Advocating for International Cooperation and Multilaterialism to End the Uyghur Genocide," has asked to remain anonymous. They wrote the essay for Mutallip Anwar's PWR 1 class, "The PWR of Words: The Rhetoric of Social and Technological Changes."
Cole Lee: Boothe Prize Honorable Mention (Fall 2020)
Cole Lee wrote her essay, "Freedom within Bounds: How is Cultural Production Reshaped on Tiktok?" for Harriett Jernigan's PWR 1 class, "What Are You, Anyway? The Rhetorics of Ethnic and Racial Identity." Originally from Hong Kong, Cole has yet to declare her major but is interested in exploring Symsys, Earth systems, CS, product design, and BioE. My main extracurricular is owning and operating PAWS OF PRIDE, a fashion brand for LGBTQ+ youth. She writes about her PWR experience, "I loved using PWR to explore intersections in field that’s interested me — social media and digital marketing — through the lens of cultural politics, philosophy, computer science, and ethics. Finding these connections and organising them into new insights is a skill I will carry forward, as I intend to innovate in the product space by combining seemingly discreet ideas."
Rachel Clinton, Boothe Prize Winner (Winter 2021)
Rachel Clinton wrote her award-winning essay, "Diversity and Exclusion: Exploring the Higher Education Success Gap Between U.S.-Origin and Immigrant-Origin Black Students" for Lisa Swan's PWR 1 class, "Beyond the Achievement Gap: Writing about Education." Rachel is originally from Manhattan Beach, California and intends to study computer science, especially the ways it can be utilized to create positive change in the world. This summer she'll be participating in a software engineering internship at Google.
When asked about her experience in PWR 1, Rachel wrote, "I really enjoyed PWR 1 and believe it has helped me improve my writing in both academic and non-academic settings. My PWR class allowed me to engage in timely and important discussions about inequity in the US education system. I was then able to apply what I learned from these discussions to an issue important to me: the underrepresentation of U.S.-origin Black students in U.S. higher education. While the journey of writing this paper was a long one, I enjoyed every moment of it and am proud to have created a paper that discusses something that is largely unrecognized in the U.S. college landscape. I am grateful to Dr. Swan and tutors at the Hume Writing Center for all of the wonderful feedback they provided throughout the writing process."
Mia Cano: Boothe Prize Honorable Mention (Winter 2021)
Mia Cano was also a student of Lisa Swan's in Winter 2021. Her essay, "Pipe Dreams: A Critical Evaluation of the STEM Pipeline" was awarded the Boothe Honorable Mention. Mia is originally from McAllen, Texas, and she plans to major in Engineering Physics, though, as she writes, "I’m very open to exploring other areas of engineering and technology." No matter what her major, she notes that she'll continue to use writing for social justice, "I’m interested in research science and potentially working at NASA in the future, but I also want to maintain my passion for writing and help create more equitable educational and work environments for underrepresented minorities in STEM." Currently, Mia is an Outreach Director for the Society of Latinx Engineers and will be conducting research on upconverting nanoparticles with the Dionne Group in the Materials Science and Engineering department.
When asked about her PWR 1 experience, Mia had this to say: "PWR 1 revived my love for writing by giving me the opportunity to contribute to a discussion that I have a genuine interest in. So much of what I learned in this class – research writing, effective communication, collaborative feedback, and more – is just as relevant to engineers as it is to journalists and other writers. I’m excited to continue applying these skills to my future endeavors and hopefully use them to work toward true equity and fair representation for ethnic and gender minorities in science and engineering."
