Michael Gawlik

I've never been great with introductions. I find trying to define myself in a minute or two a bit weird—I could tell you that I'm a student on the precipice of graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in History and a Minor in Writing, that I'm a runner, that I'd love to go on Survivor even though I've never been camping a day in my life and am terrified of snakes, that I'm a native Midwesterner hoping to somehow find my way to New York, but would any of that really help you get to know me? I'm not sure it would.

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I hope, instead, that you'll become a bit more familiar with me through this ePortfolio. An encapsulation of my writing throughout college, the ePortfolio serves as a sort of digitized stand-in for the real me. In it I've recorded my story, confided my ambitions and fears, recognized my successes and shortcomings. It's something between a diary of my life and an archive of my work—maybe Horcrux is the right word—poured out for all the world to see.  You're welcome, everyone!

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The ePortfolio is particularly focused on my work in the Minor in Writing, especially the Evolutionary Essay and the Capstone Project I undertook during the past semester. Though far from simple, both of these assignments, I feel, speak a great deal to my continued growth as a writer at Michigan and are among my best pieces. Also included here is work I have done in and out of the Minor, from my Gateway class ePortfolio, to short stories, to history essays, to the behemoth of a project I finished last month, my senior honors thesis.

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Whether you spend two minutes or two months looking through my material (there is a lot here), I hope you enjoy your time. I think you'll like me more by the end of this journey than you do now. So, without further ado, let's boogie!