Vanessa Cortez
Vanessa Cortez was in Mashey Bernstein’s Writing 1 class. Her piece “Martin Luther’s Self Reliance” was published in the 2010 in the 9thissue.
Recently Vanessa reflected on her experience of being published: “Having my piece published in Starting Lines allowed me to take on some writing in my employment. After graduating I worked at a medical device company where I had the opportunity to work on scripting that would make diabetes management user friendly for insulin pump users. Having this achievement [publication in Starting Lines] on my resume encouraged my superiors to recommend me for this assignment.
She went on to say: “Additionally, I found that graduate school applications asked that I shared any special recognitions. The opportunity to share this undergraduate experience was something that set me aside from other applicants. I am currently enrolled at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and feel that Starting Lines was one of the factors in my admission.”