For my 2020-2021 leadership project, I decided to center my actions around the question: “What are observed trends, advantages, and shortcomings of current diversity curricula in K-12 education?” I decided to try and investigate why there was a lack of global cultural studies integrated in educational curriculums in the country. Through my research, I discovered that there was a lacking middle ground between the issues in integrating such concepts. Multiple schools did have some level of global cultural studies integrated in their lessons, but since the curriculums are so personalized to each school community, they are hard to replicate and can allow for bias within classrooms to reflect on the curriculum more easily. On the other side, there are general resources online which can avoid bias because the information is available for anyone to see and use and would be more subject to criticism if there was bias, however, these online resources tend to not be educational and categorize culture in more surface-level classifications without encouraging viewers to learn more about the depth and complexity of different cultures from countries around the world.
After noticing a need for this middle ground and considering a number of metrics such as audience reach and feasibility, I decided to create a website that would be continually updated. It is to include resources to study different aspects of cultures around the world, such as literature and languages, but also be formatted such that the viewers are encouraged to understand the cultures beyond these simple categories. The goal of the website is to be a starting base for someone interested in other cultures, and learning how to be more respectful, aware, and understanding of different global cultures.
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For my soft-skill sample, I will be explaining my role in the Asian American Student Union, and application of soft skills across my different roles in the organization. My first position was during Spring 2020 when I took on the role of Digital Media Director. I built creative graphic designs to build more social media interaction and engagement, while constantly observing what designs gathered better responses. I also established strong relationships with members as I answered their questions through social media, which is one of the main medium of communications for the organization. For Fall 2020, I was Communications Director. In this role, it was required for me to be professional and timely in releasing biweekly newsletters to members, as I made a schedule of when and what to send and include for each newsletter. For the upcoming Spring 2021 semester, I will be taking on the role of a Co-President.
Through graphic design, social media engagement, and newsletter publications, I was able to improve my communication and community-building skills as I learned to build my work off of the needs of the project and organization. I hope to continue improving my soft skills through my work as a Co-President next semester, and through additional leadership opportunities.
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For my writing work sample, I have selected my final paper from my summer GOVT-322: American Political Parties course. For this paper, I analyzed relevant research and statistics to try and answer the following question: How Did 21st Century Corporate Financial Power Shift Between Silicon Valley and Wall Street? This paper demonstrates my understanding of the political system in America and its relation to the technology and business industries. I reflect on this relationship in my paper while displaying proficiency in using academic language and conveying complex topics in an effective format.
These skills regarding research, writing, and communication are applicable to not only my academic work, but also professional. I hope to continue working on these skills through future papers in order to be a leader who can effectively communicate through written works.