White Paper: combatting the Affordable Housing Crisis in charlottesville, virginia
As part of the course Leadership, Collaboration, and Communication for the Catalyst program, five group members and I crafted a white paper on combatting the affordable housing crisis in Charlottesville over the course of a semester. As an instrumental member of the group, this project demonstrates not only my academic capabilities including research and structured argumentation, but also a depth of collaboration and social responsibility. By integrating perspectives from community stakeholders, existing municipal codes, and housing development policies, our group produced an artifact that combines scholarship with tangible solutions for a relevant civic challenge. This artifact was crucial in the development of my liberal arts education as it calls on multiple competencies: ethical reasoning to emphasize equitable access to housing, data interpretation to identify gaps in funding mechanisms, and team-based problem solving to produce an actionable document. Beyond the technical facets of research and writing, our white paper also showcases attributes such as empathy, adaptability, and leadership. Engaging in the collaborative and recursive writing process demanded consensus-building, open communication, and an ability to synthesize diverse viewpoints into a persuasive argument. This capacity for nuanced engagement with peers and the community is a key part of my professional narrative, it illustrates how my liberal arts foundation informs my approach to complex, real-world problems.
Paper: Auteurist Tendencies in Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg & The Young Girls of Rochefort
By exploring the rise of auteurism through the lenses of the French New Wave films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort for the course Sound and Cinema, I demonstrated a nuanced approach to film scholarship that merges historical context and aesthetic analysis. This paper provides concrete evidence of how I synthesize multiple viewpoints from scholarly sources on auteur theory to my own detailed observations on mise-en-scene, color usage, and musical dialogue. Moreover, the essay reinforces my professional narrative by showcasing an in-depth understanding of how sound functions as an expressive tool in film. It not only underscores my capacity for thorough research and critical thinking but also reveals a deep appreciation for cinema. This paper offers a portrait of my academic strengths and professional focus, affirming my commitment to both the theory and practice of film sound as part of a larger creative discipline.
Lab: Deep Sky Imaging with a Research Grade Telescope
Captured by the Rapid Response Robotic Telescope at Fan Mountain Observatory and processed by me for the course Astronomical Observation, the images below are a testament to my love for astronomy, astrophotography, and photo editing. The associated lab and my detailed observation logs demonstrate problem solving, perseverance, and the ability to adapt when confronted with the complexities of the scientific method. While these competencies can be considered technical skills, these images and the lab provide an in-depth look at my commitment to precise observation and thorough documentation; attributes that highlight my capacity to excel in various fields. For instance, the process of troubleshooting the many observational and image processing issues I experienced when performing this lab convey a dedication to accuracy and quality, traits just as vital in creative endeavors as they are in scientific research. Through this lab report, I’ve come to appreciate how the research and analytical thinking skills I developed at UVA not only enriched my astronomy minor but also amplified my skill set across disciplines.
Messier 74, Spiral Galaxy
Messier 27, Dumbbell Nebula
Capstone Research: How Music Producers are Navigating Creativity and Identity in AI-Driven Music Production
Still working on the paper :)