Professional Writing Portfolio Spring 2024

Ellsworth
Tommy
Contents

New Frontiers

Health Care Blog Article and Infographic

NEH Grant Proposal

Teaching Philosophy and Teaching Reflection

Recommendation Report
 New Frontiers, Spring 2023

This technical writing project was completed between

January and April of 2023 as part of my internship with the
Youngstown State University College of Graduate Studies. I
was tasked with finding interesting research or work by
subject-matter experts from various colleges across YSU's
campus, interviewing these subject matter experts, and
creating articles about their work.

This project allowed me to acquire valuable experience

writing about complex topics that I am not an expert in.
While I had written about various research niches in my
coursework, nearly all of those were connected to English,
Professional Writing, or the broader humanities in some
way. In this project I was able to stretch my writing
capabilities and work with experts in fields like biology and
nursing to create interesting written content for an
audience of non-experts.

The document included here is the final draft of the entire

publication. I worked closely with YSU's Creative Services to
develop the final design. All articles apart from the first were
written and edited by me; the first article was written by an
undergraduate journalism student and edited by me. I
chose to include it in this portfolio to maintain the original
publication's format and design.

This project prepared me for a variety of professional

writing roles. The combination of technical writing and
journalism in this project allowed me to continue honing
skills in both genres and provided me with experience
interviewing and working with subject-matter experts from
a variety of fields.
Health Care Blog Article, Infographic, and Pamphlet

For these public-facing healthcare communication

documents, which were assigned in my Healthcare
Communication course, we were asked to create a
research-based blog article and infographic for a health
care issue that related to the project we were working on
with real-world clients. My client was a local organization
that provided daycare and educational services for young
children. The project they requested dealt with creating
materials to assist parents in understanding the
importance of having dental and medical care. Because of
this, I chose to research and write about the importance of
the "medical home." I have also included the pamphlet I
created for this client.

My goal for the infographic was to create the type of visual

that might be found on the social media accounts of
organizations such as WebMD. I selected key information
from the article to present in an accessible visual that
could stand on its own or accompany the article.

This project showcases my ability to distill complex

information into content that appeals to and is accessible
by a broad audience. The infographic forced me to
condense this information even more and is an example of
my ability to create visual media. Overall, I believe this
project exhibits many hallmarks of a professional writer
and prepares me for creating multimodal web content in
the sciences and other fields.
 Recommendation Report
This research-driven professional report, which I
completed for my Writing with Data course, required
detailed primary and secondary research to create a
recommendation report. It began with the task of finding a
local problem; the problem I chose to address was one
that I did not know the scope of—academic advising at
Youngstown State University. Not knowing the scope of the
problem worked perfectly with the assignment prompt as I
was required to complete primary and secondary
research to help me propose a course of action that would
solve (or help solve) the problem.

Despite the small sample size of my primary research (a

survey of YSU students), this project proved incredibly
useful for my developing skills as a researcher and writer.
This report exemplifies a goal I had when deciding to take
the course: using data, numbers, graphs, and charts
effectively and seamlessly in my writing. I was able to take
technical, numerical data and turn it into an accessible
and persuasive text. Additionally, this project displays my
understanding of rhetoric as I carefully propose changes
to YSU's academic advising while remaining especially
mindful of my audience and tone.

I have also included a research poster that I made and

presented at the project's conclusion. I felt this poster
displayed my ability to synthesize information and utilize
visual elements to accentuate key information.
 Conclusion
Youngstown State University has provided me with more opportunity
than I ever imagined. As a first-generation college student, graduate
school was never really on my mind. But I truly cannot imagine my
life without the experiences and skills I have found and honed in the
English MA program at YSU. I am forever grateful for my professors
and peers who have helped shape my time in the English program.
As the time grows nearer, I've found difficulty imagining not spending
time at the university I have been a student at for all of my adult life.

While I felt unsure of the future following my graduation from the

English BA program in 2022, I knew I wanted to pursue more
education. I am tempted to say not much has changed — I find it
hard to believe I won't find myself continuing my education at some
point. But as I prepare to graduate with a master’s degree in English, I
feel far more prepared to find a career in any number of fields.

I know job readiness is an important aspect of education. There are

many people who would argue it is the most important aspect. But
beyond the hard skills I will be able to apply to my career, I truly value
the breadth of knowledge and understanding I have discovered in
my time at YSU, and I might argue that these "soft" skills are just as
valuable as their more obviously practical counterparts.

I plan to seek jobs in technical writing for now, but I am always

interested in work that directly benefits the real people we see every
day. So, I am open to (and excited by the prospect of) exploring how
the skills and understanding I have developed over the six years I've
spent at YSU can be of service to our community, society, and the
people in it.

Tommy Ellsworth, 2024