“The Road to Home” originally began as the final essay for my 2019 Study Abroad program with ASU to New Zealand. While I reflected on my studies and experiences throughout the trip, I entered a stage of self-realization and inspiration. Using the landscape and cultural experiences of New Zealand, I was able to reflect upon my childhood and adulthood. I viewed landscape as a means to understand the milestones of my life journey: from growing up in Alabama, to moving to the Sonoran desert, to visiting New Zealand. This text has been the most meaningful thing I have created as I was able to harness the power of visualization, impact of experiences, and the creative flow of travel to reach a level of self-actualization never before achieved.
"The Impactful Nature of Landscape on Identity"
“The Impactful Nature of Landscape on Identity” is a video presentation capturing the highlights of my creative nonfiction essay “The Road to Home.” The video focuses more on landscape’s influence on a person’s identity and life experience. Created with images from my childhood as well as my trip to New Zealand, the video synthesizes the impact of nature with self-actualization.
"Pecha Kucha - Immigration in YAL"
In Spring 2021, I created a Pecha Kucha presentation for an ASU graduate course, Teaching Young Adult Literature. While I had considered teaching as a career prior to this course, I had yet to grasp how to combine my passion for activism with teaching. This course and its literature inspired me to create a thematic unit that could offer thoughtful ELA instruction through multiple modalities of literature, all under the framework of immigration.