Prompt #1 - Steven Scherer

Hello everyone,

My name is Steven Scherer and I am from Continental, Ohio. Continental is a rather small village in northwestern Ohio. In northwest Ohio, potholes are hills and river valleys are about as close as we get to mountains. I sleep less than a hundred feet from a cornfield (or soybeans, wheat, and other crops) when I am at home. Probably the worst thing about my hometown and the surrounding area is driving. Scenery: cornfields.

I attended Continental High School before coming to The Ohio State University to pursue a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in the Honors program. After attending a high school that was less than a half mile from where I live, long campus walks at Ohio State are something I am definitely not used to. I was active in many organizations at my high school and enjoyed being a leader in some of them. As time goes on, I am slowly becoming more and more involved here at Ohio State. I attend Real Life OSU on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I'm also becoming more involved in the Design, Build, Fly group here at Ohio State.

With a major like aerospace engineering, you might be able to imagine that I am quite passionate about things such as aviation, space, and cutting-edge technology. I enjoy launching model rockets, flying remote-controlled aircraft, stargazing, watching meteor showers, and playing ultimate frisbee. In May 2010, I was lucky enough to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis for the STS-132 Mission. In the summer of 2011, I was selected for a pre-college internship at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

If you ever really got to know me, you would quickly learn that slightly behind my aerospace fascinations and passions are my interests in Apple, Inc. and Starbucks. Okay, I know what you're thinking. Hipster? Freak? Fanboy? Cult follower? No. It's not the same. Unlike most Apple "fanboys," I tend to actually know what I'm talking about most of the time. I know that sounds pretty horrible or maybe downright mean, but I don't like Apple, Inc. because they are Apple, Inc. I don't like Apple, Inc. because I was a past follower of Steve Jobs. I have a deep respect for their design engineers and the crazy success of the company. I don't like everything Apple does and I don't proclaim every Starbucks drink is unrivaled (although many are). I happen to like coffee. I also happen to like espresso beverages. Coincidentally, I like Starbucks espresso beverages better than any other I've ever had. Oh, and all that money I paid for the perfect latte? It goes to one of the few companies in the world that pays for health insurance and gives pretty decent benefits to their part-time workers. I think it's well worth it, but many people don't hold the same opinion, and that's just fine with me. We are who we are. We might as well Think Different.

Prompt #1: Chanel Lambert

Hey, guys!

My name is Chanel (like the designer) and I am from Tucson, Arizona. It’s about an hour away from the Mexican border in the Sonoran Desert, but I have never been out of the United States and I cannot speak Spanish. I was born and raised in Tucson, so I have never really seen snow and I am an expert in Mexican food. My favorite place is Mi Nidito; it is on the south side, so it’s a bit ghetto, but Bill Clinton ate there once, so you know it’s good.

I graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School last year. It was a pretty small high school with about 300 in my graduating class. Now I’m a freshman at OSU. I really love Columbus so far and I hope to be living here for at least 7 years. As far as school goes, I am currently studying to be a chemical engineer, but I also want to minor in Environmental Science. I also applied to be part of Dr. Koelling’s lab that works with bio-derived polymers from corn. I am nerdy.

I like to read more than write and one my favorite books is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I also enjoy to reading satire about modern events. I just finished The Hunger Games which were pretty good and now I have set a goal to read every David Sedaris (see left) book because he is glorious.

Prompt #1: Tory Adkisson

Hello class,

My name is Tory Adkisson and I am excited to be your instructor for English 110.01 this quarter. I am writing this blogpost as a way of introducing myself to you and to model the type of writing and tone we will be working with as a part of this project. In fact, the first assignment you will be required to do as part of this Writer's Blog will be to write your own self-introductions, so what I am writing here should give you some ideas about how best to take advantage of the blogging medium to introduce yourself to me and the rest of the class.

So here's a little bit about me: I am originally from a small town in the California High Desert called Adelanto. It means progress in Spanish, which is ironic, considering that Adelanto is a pretty insignificant, rundown little town in the middle of the desert, one of many such towns that are really just glorified pit stops for most anyone making their way from LA to Las Vegas.

After graduating from Silverado High School, I attended UCLA where I earned my B.A. in English Literature. Los Angeles is an amazing city with a number of beautiful, diverse neighborhoods: some of my favorites include Koreatown (where 고기구이 is plentiful and delicious), Sawtelle Boulevard, where Japanese restaurants line the street for several blocks and boba cafes stay open until 2:00 a.m. or later, and the Fairfax District, the central location for the Askenazi Jewish community in L.A. and home to probably the greatest Jewish deli/restaurant in the U.S., Canter's!

In case you haven't figured it out yet, food is a big part of my life: I am of Jewish and Mexican heritage, and being from California, I feel that I have been very lucky to grow up exposed to a variety of different cuisines and cultures. Of course, there are many other great attractions in the city if you aren't as excited about food as I am, including the Third Street Promenade for premium shopping and the always fabulous West Hollywood, for checking out man-candy.

Now I live in Columbus, where I attend the MFA program in creative writing program here, at OSU. My focus is in writing poetry, a subject I am deeply passionate about on all levels. I enjoy a number of different poems, but just to give you an idea about the kind of stuff I like, here are a five poems that have recently moved me: "More Blues and the Abstract Truth" by C.D. Wright, "The River of Bees" by W.S. Merwin (the current U.S. poet laureate), "He Lit a Fire with Icicles" by Kay Ryan (former U.S. poet laureate), "Strange Meeting" by Wilfred Owen, and "crossing into canaan" by D.A. Powell.

Let this introduction I've provided you serve as a model for the kind of writing you will be doing on your own blogs this quarter, and do take advantage of the myriad options for integrating supporting media and material that blogging can afford you. Use hyperlinks, embed videos, include pictures, use all of these and explore blogging to create your own individual expressions. I look forward to working with all of you this quarter!