Maitlynn Mossolle's Portfolio
BENCHMARK 3:
Academics
Journalism:
Susan B. Anthony First Place Essay on Dorothea Lange
In Journalism class, we often wrote essays for certain writing contests and would send them in and usually our class would do well in them. One essay we had to write was for Jackson’s own Susan B. Anthony Awards in which we had to write about pioneering women in science and technology career paths. Many people in my class wrote about women who paved the way for other women in either the medical or engineering field. I, however, wanted to write about someone who was a pioneer for women in my dream career field of Photojournalism.
I wrote about Dorothea Lange, an iconic female photojournalist during The Great Depression. She took many iconic photos and really showed social injustices all around. She paved the way for people like me to dream to be photojournalists and not just take glamorous pictures, but raw, real ones. My essay ended up winning first place in the contest along with other girls in my class who took second and third place. We were able to attend a dinner, read our essays, and hear other women speak of their jobs in rights for women.
It all really opened up my eyes to just how hard it was for women to break into the field I have chosen but now, thanks to women like Dorothea Lange, I am able to go after that dream. In my personal life, it will help me to know that women are just as capable as men. In the field or Journalism, not only does it show me that my writing skills are enough to win contests but that it is possible for a woman to be revered and successful in that field.
Creative Writing:
"Chico and Heather" Feather Story
Creative Writing class was one of the first writing electives I ever took in high school and it ended up being one of my favorites. It taught me a lot about being more creative and colorful with my writing and just let my imagination come to life. On assignment we had to do was incorporate or base our entire story on a feather. For my story I decided to go in more of a children’s story direction as I felt that would be an area I could excel in. I decided to write about a chicken whose best friend was one of his feathers and while he was trying to fit in and be just like all of the other chickens, he loses her. I called it Chico and Heather and needless to say it was one of my favorite pieces of writing.
I just could not stop reading it to people, my little sister even loved it so much that she had me come in and read it to her third grade class. Later, her teacher emailed me and said that my story was so good that I should look into getting it published. Now, I have been working and looking for someone to publish my story as I feel that would really help me get my foot into the door of the professional world of writing.
The main point of the assignment was to show us that it is possible to write about or incorporate anything into a story creatively. In the future, in Journalism, this will really help me in future assignments and articles to better incorporate details of stories in order to write a great and factual article. In my personal life, being able to write a well-liked children’s story really shows that I could excel in another career path other than just journalism if that doesn’t work out for me.