Night view of Marine City, Haeundae

Born and raised in the port city of Korea, Busan, I always had ocean’s spirit in my heart. As I grow up, my city grew as fast as I did. When I attended middle school, my neighborhood was filled with, but never stopped building skyscrapers. Growing up along with the skyscrapers was quite joyful memory since the soaring concrete facade and a room full of waves always entertained me with its dynamics.

The city imbued magic in me and I quickly figured out my dreams for building beautiful skyscrapers that glowed over my window. Choosing civil engineering as major was not hard at all. After my freshmen year at the University of Illinois, on 2013 fall, I served for my country for two years to fulfill my duty as a Korean man. After the service, with curiosity and whimsy that ocean inspired, I decided to explore the culinary world for two years. On 2017 summer, I came back to my track again and here I am in Rhet 105.

This course is a requirement for my major since I need to learn adequate writing skills to write my future research paper. I expected to just write about different topics. However, food was a major topic of this course and my past experience intrigued my interest in writing assignments for the course. My experience inspired my motivations for the most of major writing assignments.

However, getting on the track was the hardest part. As returning student after four years of gap year along with the rush to graduation, I had a rough time adjusting myself to the academic calendar.

My workstation

Civil Engineering classes demanded major attention and time for the most of the work. Throughout the Rhet 105 class, I always wrote with hurry and pressure. It was inevitable to write in quality that I never satisfy with. I always knew that there is a room for improvement, but I always ran out of my time and I did not know where to start.

This portfolio grants me a chance to display the skills that I learned from this class: rhetorical writing and summarize, analyze, evaluate and synthesize the sources for writing. I chose four writings that require rudiment skills to develop my writing further with revising skills that I learned from the class.

I hope that multimedia in this portfolio explains in more detail about myself; hometown that shaped me who I am. Also, I wish it can give a more solid idea about my writing metaphor as a journey to different places.