Nonfiction Commons^™

Border Living, Michelle Quintero

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

As a Colombian-American, Michelle Quintero experiences the challenge of border living when she travels to Colombia after a long wait of ten years. She is faced with the struggle of feeling like an outcast in her own home. After numerous times of trying to fit into one culture, she realizes that she does not need to label herself with just one identity.

¿Oportunidad O Desafío?, Katherine Gissel Pichardo Guillen

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Para los estudiantes de primera generación la universidad no solo representa una oportunidad de estudio, también representa un desafío, para Katherine Pichardo estudiante de primera generación la universidad ha sido todo una aventura, una montaña rusa de sentimientos y experiencias que comparte en este ensayo.

Shopping With Shannon, Kay Hampton

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Throughout her first two years at Loyola Marymount University, Kay Hampton has struggled with feelings of isolation and loneliness due to her unique college experience. Working to put herself through college has polarized her from her fellow classmates. Fortunately, her mentor unintentionally changed her perspective of her journey for the better by sharing her story.

The Border Between Us, Cindy Dominguez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

In a trip to the Mexican-American border, Cindy Dominguez comes face to face with the wall that separates thousands of families and is responsible for many deaths of those seeking better lives. Through this encounter, she recollects her own experience with immigration and reflects upon how much her life has changed. Reminiscing about her childhood in El Salvador, Dominguez comes to terms with her how her past has influenced her goals as a first-generation college student.

Nunca Será Imposible Algo Que Realmente Deseas, Leidy Mariel Cruz Vásquez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

With only a few months to go until her graduation from a prestigious Dominican university, first-generation college student Leidy Cruz reflects on her humble origins, and considers the drive and determination that have led her to the point of accomplishing her goals.

My Road To Success, Greylin Corona Estévez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Ana Laura is a young Latin girl with a strong desire to learn and get an education. This attitude has made her develop a personality that is not very accepted among those around her. With the constant feeling of not belonging, she never stops until she finds herself graduated from high school. In this stage of her life, she struggles between the two ideas of success handed down to her by her parents—one is getting money; the other is getting an education. She continues until she sees herself with her degree in her hand and a grateful heart.

Fear, Megan Castillo

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

In this narrative, author Megan Castillo recounts her experiences growing up as a child. She expounds on the challenges she faced while struggling with the idea of overcoming her fears. However, after traveling to a new country for the very first time, Megan Castillo realized that through education and gaining knowledge, the possibilities were infinite.

Butterflies, Adinah Bolden

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Adinah Bolden is a Los Angeles-based graduate of Loyola Marymount University. She is a pop culture and history loving cynic who has overcome adversity in many matters to work toward leading a fulfilling and exciting post-graduate life. Like many young adults, Bolden has struggled with labels, identity, and personal growth, which she addresses in this narrative. On this First To Go Abroad trip to the Dominican Republic, she deeply identified with the symbol of the butterfly, which represents an opposition to political tyranny, racial imperialism, and national injustice.

American Vampires, Adinah Bolden

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Adinah Bolden is a Los Angeles-based graduate of Loyola Marymount University. She is a pop culture and history loving cynic who has overcome adversity in many matters to work toward leading a fulfilling and exciting post-graduate life. As a part of her participation in a 2016 First To Go Abroad trip to the Dominican Republic, she was required to visit an outdoor vegetable and meat market. She received five mosquito bites in the process.

It’S A Match: How Society’S Dependence On Efficient Technology Effects The Ways We Date, Marissa Ceraolo

Pop Culture Intersections

I want to make an established connection between our society’s growing reliance on technology use and the ways in which online dating have shaped dating culture. In a society where we all are so obsessed with instant gratifications, finding matches instantly can definitely be problematic. While many people have found matches on dating websites, I will argue that although online dating definitely does have its various benefits, that it overlooks important parts of the dating experience that can be essential for the growth of a healthy relationship. Dating profiles are made to make the single applicant appear as the best …

Identity Of Pokemon Go Players: How Social Gaming Affects Behavior, Jasmine Quinn

Pop Culture Intersections

In July of 2016 Americans have received a fun new app that produces behaviors unlike any before. It causes people to gather at places, such as parks, in large groups, or causes them to wander around neighborhoods. Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game created by the company Niantic, and is available for free on mobile phones. An article From USA Today features the parks and recreation director of Kimberly Point Park, Michael Kading who says “I have never seen anything like this” as he has trouble getting people out of the park at closing time. The app has caused …

We Learn To Walk By Falling: Portraits And Wisdom From Women, Jennifer Townsend

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

Tangled Roots, Bittersweet Exposure, Chase Clow

The Goose

Accompanied by tree portraits, this personal narrative reflects upon the intersecting histories between the indigenous peoples of Marin County (north of San Francisco, CA) and the author, who is Euro-American, while contemplating the changing relationship to their shared woodland, the effects of colonization, and possibilities for healing.

Human Computer Interaction And Data Visualization, Olivia Hsieh

Pop Culture Intersections

In 2013, SINTEF cited that 90% of the world’s data had been created over the past two years.1 With the onset of Big Data, the ability to analyze data at a rate directly proportional to its collection becomes quite near impossible, albeit nonetheless important. In “Play With Data – An Exploration of Play Analytics and Its Effect on Player Experiences,” Ben Medler explains its pertinence: “Data can be given a different context through relating it to other data. A relation informs someone of how data can be correlated or combined with other data.”

From "Brief Eulogies For Lost Species", Daniel Hudon

The Goose

Since the year 1500, almost 900 species around the world have officially become extinct. Several of these species resided in Canada and though some are well known to the public, others are not. Here, briefly, are stories of five of them.

August 2016, Temple Shalom Synagogue Center

Newsletter Archive

Contents: Kiddush Levana; From the Rabbi; President's Message; Announcements; L-A Jewish Federation; A Bissel of Maine; Community Notices

The Inversion Layer: Essays, Benjamin W. Kinney

All NMU Master's Theses

This essay collection examines the ways in which places with rich histories exist through time. Five sites are examined, four of them in the Upper Peninsula and one of them in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The sites in “The Best Souvenir” and “The Cloud Chamber” are official museums, the site in “Comfort in Buying Things” is an active mall, the site in “The Inversion Layer” is a tourist destination, and the site in “A Beautiful Piece of Nowhere” has no official memorial. All of these essays incorporate research but are grounded mostly in the author’s experiences at his visits …

18 Dorset Ct., Allison Catherine Campbell

Dissertations

The following poems and essays were completed by the author between October 2012 and April 2016.

Ghost, Moving, Andrea Wuorenmaa

All NMU Master's Theses

This collection of creative nonfiction essays weaves a journey through local history, genealogy, physical landscape, and personal memoir. The essays therein investigate the past through the lens of the present, and the present as informed by the past. Written from a first person perspective, many of the essays directly address individuals or time periods long gone, while all of them are constructed with the memory, research, and imagination of the author.

Though this collection is rooted in history, it also relies on the metaphysical to create a vision of the past. Intangible themes—life, death, a farewell to things and people …

When Winter Causes Loss: Surviving A Decade Of Pain, Sharon Vanice Bealer

Theses and Dissertations

I struggled with pain and depression for approximately ten years after my mother’s death from cervical cancer at age forty-three. I felt anxious, hopeless, and pessimistic, along with guilt, shame, and overall worthlessness. I endured these maladies for almost ten years—until Bethany, Ingrid, Liza, and Pam helped me to overcome them through experiential role modeling and loving kindness. While all the stories in this book are true, names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved. In some cases, events have been compressed and occasionally embroidered. Some parts have also been changed to varying …