鈥淭omorrow鈥檚 Voices Today鈥� is a column in聽Cultural Weekly,聽an online magazine that covers culture, arts, and news聽in and around Los Angeles. It鈥檚 a forum that seeks contributions from creative writers who are making an impact in their communities. Three of the latest contributors hail from Woodbury students: Joshua Don Jones, who is majoring in Communication and Professional Writing (); Tricia Lopez, a Professional Writing major (); 鈥媋nd Kendra Quadra, an Interdisciplinary Studies major ().
The three have more in common than the shared experience of publication. 聽According to faculty member, Dr. Linda Dove, Professional Writing program, all three contributions focus on an autobiographical story as a means of interpreting and processing a聽larger, more complex context. 鈥淭ricia’s piece focuses on race and immigration, Kendra鈥檚 on disability, and Joshua’s on religion and faith,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n each case, the personal resonates in the public sphere and takes on political and social meanings.鈥�
Joshua, a 21-year-old African American Christian, is a sophomore and enjoys writing essays and poetry. Poetry, indeed, has been part of his life since childhood. He recalls that his sisters were writing and reciting poetry well before he knew how to read.聽 Edgar Allen Poe ranks as his favorite poet, and he says he鈥檚 working diligently to become a better writer.
Likewise, Tricia, an L.A. native, knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a writer. In high school, she declared as a business major until she realized that writing was her passion. 聽An editor for聽Moria Literary Magazine聽and now a freelance writer, Tricia recently wrote the concept and lyrics for an R&B album. She鈥檚 now at work on a chapbook of poems.
When Kendra met Dani Bowman in her INDS course聽Natures,聽she was intrigued by her exceptional animation skills and the business she had built at age 11. The following semester they found themselves in another class together,聽L.A. Stories,聽and, when presented with an assignment to write a biography about a fellow classmate, Kendra jumped at the chance to work with Dani. The premise of the interview project was to write each other鈥檚 鈥淟.A. Story,鈥� an introductory exercise in developing oral history skills.
鈥淛oshua, Tricia and Kendra embody Woodbury’s commitment to the larger community. Classes here serve students by asking them to understand themselves as part of those outside contexts,鈥� Dove says.
鈥淭his is culturally-centered civic media,鈥� she notes. 鈥淭hrough their pieces, these three students can make contributions beyond the classroom and think of their work as projects-in-the-world, not only as coursework. They can begin to understand themselves in a 鈥榩rofessionalized鈥� context.鈥�