Dear Dr. Zerbe,

Thank you for taking the time to read and review my senior portfolio. My name is Kim Lilienthal and I am an English major with concentrations in Literature and Professional Writing and Rhetoric at Elon University. I have greatly enjoyed working in both concentrations to develop my writing skills in a variety of genres that allow me to explore my passions. I am planning to attend graduate school next year for an MA in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition, to ultimately apply my writing and communication skills to a career in student affairs.

The three sections I chose to include that best indicate my identity as a professional writer are Writing to Share Knowledge, Writing to Serve the Community, and Writing to Explore Culture. As an Honors Fellow and a double concentration in English, research and academic writing has become a primary genre I work with. The Writing to Share Knowledge section includes a piece from one of my research-intensive Honors seminars during my sophomore year, my senior capstone project in literature, and documents representing pieces of my two-year Honors thesis. I enjoy research writing because I can capitalize on my critical thinking and organization skills to synthesize information and present something new to the academic community.

I quickly became involved in community engagement when I came to Elon, throwing myself into numerous extra curricular activities in student life. I was glad to find PWR, a major in which I can combine my love for writing with helping others. Client projects in several of our classes proved to me that there are always places for professional writers in the workplace; my extra-curricular involvement confirmed that as well as I created documents for organizations I worked with.

I also value making professional writing personal, and the last section showcases how I utilize writing to explore a new culture and get to know its people. When I first moved to North Carolina from Maryland, it took some time to learn about the culture of the south and how I fit in here. My internship with a local magazine helped me feel connected to my new home. As I traveled abroad to Dublin my junior year, I kept personal and professional blogs to capture my experiences and fall more in love with Ireland. Writing can also be used to learn about the past, and my Writing, Rhetoric, and Civic Action class placed me in 1913, and called for me to apply rhetorical theories to develop strategies for speaking and writing that would have been effective for the time.

I hope you enjoy exploring my portfolio and learning about the diverse opportunities I have had at Elon to develop my professional writing, design, and collaboration skills as I produced media in varied rhetorical situations.

I appreciate your evaluations and feedback!

Cheers,

Kim Lilienthal