Portfolio

The story of my life has many intricate details that both identify the complexity and joy that have helped me become the person that I am today. I am the son of parents who immigrated from the Indian subcontinent to America. Throughout my upbringing, both of my parents have been extraordinary examples in terms of courage and resilience. My father has demonstrated attributes of courage simply by immigrating to America without any family or any friends to support him when he arrived in the United States. My father also was an example, in demonstrating the importance of persistence. For example, all his life my father desired to become a medical professional. Specifically, he selected the profession of dentistry. When he first arrived in the United States, graduate institutions were not inclined to recognize individuals who already graduated from foreign dental schools. Therefore, had to begin again by going to school at night, while during the day he worked as a clerk in a department store. The significance of my father's example and presence in my life is that his story underscores the values of determination, dedication, and persistence. These qualities encourage me to go forward in my studies, and to find new avenues where I can serve others in improving their lives.

Words cannot explain the impact that my mother has had on the course of my life. My mother has served both as an emotional source of strength and a physical caregiver. I was born with cerebral palsy. Meaning I cannot walk, and I have limited use of both of my hands. Notwithstanding this fact, my mother has always sought to encourage me to engage in endeavors that are challenging. It was my mother who encouraged me to pursue a career in writing and rhetoric, this is because she always had ambitions for me to become a writer and a teacher of language.

My mother propelled my interest in language the effect that she had in creating a bilingual household. My siblings and I lived in a rhetorical environment that included dialects from both India and different regions of the United States. My mother always believed that growing up in a domestic environment that appreciated the complexity of language, that her children would be able to navigate the complexity of a growing multicultural world.

A byproduct of being raised in this environment is that I cultivated an interest in reading and writing. It was always the case that, the complexities of writing always seemed to bring forth my talents in terms of being able to design a narrative and integrate a message. However, as my educational career progressed, I came to appreciate the importance of the triumvirate actions of research, reading, and writing. For instance, the experiences and skills that are required during my undergraduate years, in conjunction with my study of writing and rhetoric at UCF gave me the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to engage and conduct large-scale research projects. I know the skills that I have acquired will help me be a productive and efficient student at Clemson University.

However, to appreciate how my time at UCF has contributed to my knowledge and skills within the specific scope of research and writing, it would be a dereliction of duty if I did not mention what forces in my life caused me and wanting to study the field of rhetoric. I've always had a lifelong ambition to become an attorney. I perceived a career in law as being the most effective way I could apply my talents to contribute to society. However, soon after a short career in law school, I found a legal career wouldn't truly help being applied my talents towards the goal that I had in wanting to become an effective member and active person in my community and society at large.

So, therefore, I ended up searching for a career in which I would be able to write and research topics and issues that related to how human beings engaged with one another and informed the way a person can form a worldview. In the end, to become a student of language, and writing, because I believe that these two subject areas represent a specific area of analysis, help explain to me how people make sense out of their reality since language is the primary skill that human beings use towards identifying meaning from their environment. As a result of my time at UCF as a graduate student in the Department of writing and rhetoric, I've been able to notice possible convergences and divergences in the way is that both language and writing help construct how human beings perceive issues of identity, technology, and political behavior.

I anticipate that I will be able to apply the many skills that I've learned throughout my rhetorical journey to a new environment such as Clemson University. I anticipate that in this new environment I will be able to engage with faculty and the other members of the Clemson family, who will help me to conceive of new ideas and themes. This will help me do my part in propelling rhetoric further into the 21st century.