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Writing Matters: Student Edition

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Everyone, no matter what their field, needs the ability to communicate effectively in a range of situations. Academic and professional success depend upon it. Stanford's President, John Hennessy, a computer scientist and electrical engineer, once put it this way: "[In college] we had a notion that engineers had to know how to use slide rules or calculators or computers but not how to write. And that is the biggest falsehood you could possibly perpetrate on young people. I think writing and rhetoric -- public speaking -- are the two most valuable skills across any discipline in any field." Here, Stanford undergraduate students in engineering, the humanities, mathematics, and the natural sciences talk about the importance of communication in their disciplines, and how their PWR experiences played a role in why writing matters to them.

Writing Matters: Student Edition Videos

Kezia Alfred - Mechanical Engineering Major

Mia Divecha - Chemical Engineering Major

Rachael Flatt – Biology Major

Zoya Lozoya – English Major

Clarice Nguyen – Human Biology Major

Jacob Portes - Physics and Philosophy Major

Jasmine Ragland – Human Biology Major

Tina Roh – Computer Science Major

Cole Rojas – Neurobiology Major

Kimmy Scheible – Psychology Major

Karen Shen - Mathematical and Computational Sciences Major

Kyle Vermeer – Computer Science Major

Joy Vorapatchaiyanont – Economics Major