Writing Studies Alumni

Valerie Nguyen is a graduating Computer Science and Engineering major with a minor in Writing. During her time at UC Merced, she has contributed to the campus in many ways. Some of her contributions are: being PR Intern on campus; assisting in the UC Merced Mechanical Engineering Accreditation Report; and co-hosting a workshop for writing professors. She also held a position in ASUCM. In the past, she worked as a writing intern at Dragonfly Editorial, and now Valerie is a Business Development Intern at Apogee Engineering, where she works with government contracts and proposal development. In the future, Valerie wants to work on technical proposal writing, combining both of her technical and writing skills.

I chose to do a Writing Minor after being inspired by my SPARK professor. She encouraged me to submit multiple writing documents to be considered for a journal, and I was able to be published at the Vernal Pool during my first semester at UC Merced. Writing Studies and the Merritt Writing Program at UC Merced hosts the most caring professors that I have ever experienced. I was able to network and meet the majority of Writing Studies professors on campus, and I gained many opportunities through that networking.

Matthew Louie is a second year MA student studying Rhetoric and Writing Studies (with a specialization in the teaching of writing) at San Diego State University. He will be completing his MA this year (2023) and will be committing to a PhD program (tbd) in rhetoric/composition for the upcoming school year. During his time at UC Merced, Matthew was a writing minor, writing consultant (at the University Writing Center), and the Student Success Intern for the Merritt Writing Program in the 2020-2021 school year.

Matthew's current work in the field of Rhetoric and Writing Studies follows discussions of language and culture in the classroom. In particular, he is currently researching anti-racist and linguistically inclusive assessment practices to identify ways in which to continuously improve practices to support linguistically diverse student bodies. In addition, he is engaging in pedagogies that seek to pull on the cultural resources and knowledges that students come into the writing classroom with. He is currently teaching on food rhetorics and food writing as a way to pull from students’ home knowledges.

I am a fourth year Biological Sciences major (emphasis: Microbiology and Immunology) and a minor in Anthropology, graduating in Spring 2023. I conduct research in linguistics and writing in Dr. Xu’s research lab and interested in pursuing a PhD in Interdisciplinary Humanities focusing on research in Education and Linguistics. When I am not focused on education and research, I am either back home in Visalia with family or traveling abroad.