Hello!
My name is Jaya and I am a graduate student in technical writing at University of North Texas. I also have a Masters degree in Non-fiction Creative Writing from UNT.
My goal is to be technical writer in a company that will allow me to create exciting, informative content, including SOPs and Instructional Design. But ultimately, I want to go back to teaching.
Nothing gives me more pleasure than to teach useful, practical skills to my students in my technical communications (TECM 2700) class. Besides teaching this class for the last four years, I have also taught World Literature, Fiction Writing, and First Year Writing courses.
As a non-fiction writer, I have a lot of publications in literary magazines. Here is a link to one of my recent publications that I wrote after my father's passing. This lyrical essay is very close to my heart. We Carry Our Father's Ashes.
As a technical writer, I have taken courses in technical editing, style, and principles. I am excited to take design and proposal writing classes in the next semester.
One of the proposals I wrote for my principles class was to request multiple electrical outlets for my classroom so students can plug in their laptops for charging.
Since my classroom is in an old building, it is very hard to get new electrical outlets added in. Inspired by my proposal, our lab supervisor decided to find a unique solution to the problem. He has now installed powered grommets in each of our collaborative tables. Each one has a standard 3-prong receptacle with 2 powered USB ports.
This experience made me realize than I am good at convincing people to take action.
I am also handy around the house. I am always fixing things or trying to make things more efficient around the house. One of my favorite things to do is to install storage solutions in kitchen, laundry room, entry way, and closets.
Container store is my happy place after Lowes and Home Depot. I am always browsing these stores for ideas, inspiration, tools, and efficient storage solutions.
I recently installed some sliding shelves inside my kitchen cabinets. I installed these by taking out the old wooden shelves, and installing the steel track system by screwing it into the bottom, back, and sides of the cabinet. Then, sliding the shelves into the tracks. The sliding shelves make it easy to reach for back of the closet containers, and pots and pans.
Last summer, I installed a sliding shoe rack in my entry way closet. For this project, I had to remove the fixed wooden shelf and hanging rod, patch and smooth the drywall, paint, and then install a horizontal hanging bracket on the studs. Once that was done, I inserted the vertical rods, brackets, and shelves and drawers. The whole project took six hours over two days. It increased my shoe storage four fold.