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Hometown: Glen Burnie, MD
Year & Major: Freshman; Social Work
Special Power: Somehow spending hours doing nothing.
Favorite Quote: "What you don't understand you can make mean anything". -Chuck Palahniuk

On Writing: Writing has been one of my favorite pastimes ever since I learned to read. I began reading at a very young age, and I would delve into anything I could get my hands on. I've always had a deep love for vocabulary and the English language, just how vast and expansive it can be. My parents helped to nurture this interest by encouraging me to use the dictionary when I didn't know the spelling or definition of a word. Throughout my childhood I was always writing stories or working on one of my many ideas for a "novel". As I've grown older and acquired more responsibilities, I have not had as much time as I'd like to devote to my writing. And as time went on, I found that I did not have the same level of interest as I had had previously. Just this summer, however, I took another stab at my old habit or writing fictional stories. While I was a bit rusty, it did help to remind me that writing is something that I have and always will love, no matter how long of a break I may take.

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Your Writing Fellow!

Hometown: Hanover, MD

Year & Major: Senior, Graphic Design & Writing minor
Special Power: You wouldn't believe how many successful art projects I've finished the night before.

Favorite Quote: "For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

On Writing: I've been dabbling in creative writing ever since I learned Microsoft Word. To this day, my style is very "stream of consciousness"-like. That being said, I had to force myself to adapt to the formalities and rules that are typically associated with academic papers. I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to organizing; I always have to handwrite my ideas and have an outline available to reference. I tend to save my introductory paragraph for last, and do the conclusion first (for motivation's sake). Establishing a thesis statement is simultaneously my strength and weakness.

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Hometown: Waldorf, Maryland

Year+Major:Freshman, Mechanical Engineer

Special Power:I can get sunburn on cloudy days.

Favorite Quote:"When life beats you down, call the police."

On Writing:I got into writing through short stories and reading.

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Hometown: Sandy Spring MD
Year/Major; Freshman, Bio BS
Special Power: hearing song and being able to mimic it on guitar almost immediately
Favorite Quote: "Making excuses burns zero calorie per hour"
On writing: I've never really been interested in writing. I don't really find it fun and it's pretty hard for me to construct something like an essay and make it well written. In my high school english class, my writing was't genuine. I just followed the rubric or whatever format there was just to get it done. I'm hoping I can become a stronger writer that is more genuine with writing.

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Hometown: Sunderland, MD
Year and Major: Freshman, Computer Science
Special Power:  Finding reasons to not do something
Favorite Quote: "From my perspective, the Jedi are evil."
On Writing:  I always seem to take longer to write things than others.  I would take about 5 hours to write only a 2-3 page essay.  I think this may stem from my dislike of writing, not necessarily the act itself, but writing about what I think.  My opinions and understandings are always changing, so I don't like to put something down that isn't permanent.  It's worse if I begin to disagree with the thesis of the paper as I'm writing it.

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Hometown: Cary, North Carolina
Year and Major: Freshman, Mechanical Engineering
Special Power: I can beatbox
Favorite Quote: "Gotta Believe"

On Writing: I personally have found writing to be a good way to express my thoughts effectively. I may have a cool idea pop in my head or say something profound, but I am able to convey any concepts that come up, such as those, best through writing. I take along time to write because I usually first start by writing down all my ideas, and then I go back and do revisions. I add in things that I left out or use different words to clarify my viewpoint. I like to write about things of substance and deep meaning.

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Hometown: Columbia, MD
Year & Major: Freshman, Compsci
Special Power: Beatboxing
Favorite Quote: "OUT OF ORDER!?.... Even in the future, nothing works!"

On Writing: Writing has always been my least favorite part about class. Throughout school, the curriculum almost never had creative writing, and writing about pure information or analysis was so boring and technical to me. Page requirements always seemed silly to me, and citation are really confusing.

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Hometown: Columbia, MD

Year and Major: Freshman, Psychology and History, (B.A.)

Special Power: Dancing for three hours straight.

Favorite Quotes: "If you look in the face of evil, evil's gonna look right back at you." (Sister Jude, American Horror Story: Asylum)
or "If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed." (Sylvia Plath)

On Writing: I did not enjoy writing until my junior year of high school; I found it to be arbitrary and time-consuming. I hardly used punctuation, and had horrible grammar; however, as I continued to practice, I found to be fun. One of the thinks I like the most about writing is having the ability to convey a story from another person's point-of-view, and really get into that character's head.

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Hometown: Silver Spring, MD
Year & Major: Freshman, Computer Science
Special Power: I have a lot of patience.
Favorite Quote: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"
On writing: I am not great at writing at all. I don't dislike writing but I can just never really get into it. The only time I find writing to be fun is when describing things I saw or just writing down random thoughts.

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hometown:gaithersburg      Year & Major:  Biochemistry and molecular biology

Special Power: Procrastination

On Writing: I'm really bad at it, and try to avoid it as much as possible

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Hometown: Chesapeake Beach, MD
Year and Major: Freshman pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering
Special Power: Lately I been able to tell if someone is a computer science major just by looking at them.
Favorite Quote: "Never tell me the odds." -Han Solo
On Writing: Writing is one of those skills that I believe that I am good at, but don't enjoy doing.  In 10th grade,(notice the anecdote) I got a 100% on the first essay I wrote, and I was the only one to achieve that. I was honestly so shocked, I asked my teacher why I got that grade and she told me that my essay essay was excellent. Before that, I would hate writing; I still believed that I wasn't any good. Although after that moment, I found myself believing that I was a good writer, but I still don't enjoy writing.

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Hometown: Gaithersburg, MD
Year & Major:Jr, Pre-Nursing
Special Power: I can sleep all day
Favorite Quote: "All endings are just a beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

On Writing: Writing is not my strength, but I try to do my best on the assignments that are being assigned. I did have "peak" in writing sophomore year of high school, when I received 9/10 on one of my essay that was graded by the hardest grader in the english department. My confidence in writing boosted up and started submitting last minute papers. I started fearing writing assignment and I'm hoping I can regain my confidence.

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Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Year & Major: Freshman, Biology
Special Power: I can make my little brother admit he's lying by staring at him long enough.
Favorite Quote: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
On Writing: When I was younger I enjoyed reading, however, I could never put my thoughts into words through writing. As I grew older I found that it was easier to focus my attention to one or two topics and express my opinions in my writing. Throughout high school I learned different techniques in writing that have helped me to progress into a better writer.

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Hometown: Bel Air , MD
Year & major: Freshmen, Computer  Engineering
Special Power: I can stay up for 3 days+
Favorite Quote: "I am both happy and sad at the same time, and i'm still trying to figure out how that could be"
on writing: While i read a lot, I've always hated writing either it was in a writing class or a science class. My writing skills are pretty lackluster and I've never been interested in it which meant that I've never found reason to try and improve my writing skills.

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Hometown: Baltimore,MD
Year&Major : Biochemistry and molecular biology, math minor (2019)
Special power: I can watch ID or anything crime related and kdramas for 3 days straight without eating.
Favorite quote : "It always seems impossible until its done."
n writing: I do not enjoy writing unless it has to do with something science related.

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Hometown: Aiken, SC
Year & Major: Freshman,  chemical engineering
Special Power:
Favorite Quote: "Believe you can and you're halfway there."
On Writing:
I used to like writing. Then I took AP Lit and Lang. I did a lot of writing my junior and senior year of high school to prepare for the exam. I enjoy reflecting on what devices the author uses to convey the meaning. I have never been interested in writing for fun or for myself. I need to improve on my technical and research writing. Also, I do not enjoy using APA format; it's too stressful.

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Hometown: Silver Spring, MD
Year & Major: Freshman, Computer Science
Special Power: I can lay in bed for 24+ hours.
Favorite Quote: "Failure is not falling down, but refusing to get up."

On Writing: I enjoy challenging contemporary and "mainstream" views. I like sharing my method of thinking, despite the fact it's probably wrong. Analytical writing is my weakness because I don't think the same way many others do. I tend to speak based on personal experiences. To be honest, I cannot try to stand in your shoes unless I've walked in your steps. What's my go to excuse for not being able to write well? English is not my native language.

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Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Year & Major: Sophomore; Computer Science (B.S), History (B.A)
Special Power: I can stare at a computer screen for hours on end and my eyes will not strain.
Favorite Quote: "Veni, Vidi, Vici." - Julius Caesar

On Writing: When I first entered high school, I always found myself behind my peers when writing papers as I could not concoct a grammatically correct sentence. However, throughout my junior and senior years, I vastly improved my writing and was finally able to scale the writing mountain that my peers were able to climb. Upon entering college, I was overwhelmed with papers for my various history classes and struggled to meet the demand for my classes. However, I was able to overcome this herculean task with the aid of my professors. Now I am able to compose analytical and historical papers with moderate ease. As a writer, I am looking forward to expand my lexicon and expand into other fields of writing - such as fiction.

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Hometown: Germantown, MD
Year & Major: Freshman, Chemical/Environmental Engineering
Special Power: I can learn things pretty fast if it is shown to me visually.
Favorite Quote: "Don't stop believing"
On Writing: For a majority of my middle school and high school years, English and composition was not my favorite subject. I hated writing essays and reading books and analyzing them. As I continued on my path, I started to like writing more argumentative pieces where I can express my own opinion on a subject. Usually when I do that I start to rant on and on about what I feel on the topic. I still don't enjoy writing that much but when it's about something I have a passion for,  I do enjoy it.

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Hometown: New Windsor, MD
Year and Major: Sophomore, Computer Science
Special Power: Watching an entire series on Netflix in one day.
Favorite Quote: "Whatever, forever" - Modern Baseball
On Writing: I've always enjoyed writing in a lot of ways. Back in middle school, I used to be pretty good at it, but I think I plateaued a bit at the beginning of high school. I would mainly attribute that to the simple fact that for awhile I just simply stopped writing aside from what I was required of me in class. That quickly changed when I got to college, however, as I found myself faced with the daunting task of once again having to write not only academic content but creative content for a number of my classes. I think I have since become a much better writer, and I look forward to improving even more with the help of this class.

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Home Town: Pasadena CA
Year and Major: Freshman; Biochemistry w/ molecular biology (premed) [2016-tbd]
Special Power: Can sleep any where and anytime.
Favorite Quote:
"We're all scared. You hid in that ditch because you think there's still hope. But Blithe, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier's supposed to function. Without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends on it." ~ Stephen Ambrose
On Writing:
To be honest for me writing is a challenge. Not because of my inability to do it, but my lack of motivation. I primarily enjoy reading and comment on pieces of literate that focus on times of disarray. My favorite being A Band of Brothers. However please do not be mistaken I do at times love controversial books. From the adventures of Huck Fin to Hamilton. One thing that I do know that I struggle with however is creating a strong thesis statement, with inadequate areas of support. By "inadequate" I'm referring to the pesky support that sound like a full blown thesis. I also struggle with "run on's which are created due to me stringing out a Areas of support and a claim. Other than that I hope that taking this corse will help me be able to write functional pieces of work.

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Hometown: Clarksville, MD
Year & Major: Freshmen, Biology
Special Power: Can eat chocolate for days
Favorite Quote: "Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power." - Lao Tzu
On Writing: I naturally procrastinate, writing papers right before it's due.  Though I tell myself each school year that this habit must go, it simply doesn't. I struggle with creative writing since my imagination and creativity is on the down low. And I actually enjoy writing... it's so much better than math.

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Ms. May Chung

Your Instructor, ENG 100

Hometown: Hickory, NC

Year & Major: PhD, Language, Literacy, and Culture (2018)

Special Power: I can listen to a song for 3 seconds and know the name and artist.

Favorite Quote: "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line"

On Writing: I've always enjoyed composition and journaling when I was younger. In high school, I would always write last minute papers and would never revise them. I found out quickly in undergrad that this was not the best strategy. Now that I am writing more technical and scientific pieces for publication, I am still struggling to be cohesive, yet concise. I enjoy metaphors, flowing descriptive imagery, and attempts at humor. I find that I write best in pieces with lots of revision.