Andrew Mendez (WRIT 340)

I have had a pretty good experience at my new job as an intern at Race Service recently. On my first day, I was able to make an edit that was posted on the Race Service social media in collaboration with Mercedes Benz AMG Motorsport with it reaching 230k views. My second day on the job was really when things got cool.     LINK TO VIDEO On my second day working for Race Service I was able to go to Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to help set up the production at the penthouse suite. We went up and down the elevators bringing supplies and other things needed for the production and event that is going to be held tomorrow. As I was helping with the all the tasks needed, the Mercedes AMG car that Race Service had been completely rebuilding for this event pulled up in a trailer alongside a gigantic crane right in the middle of Hollywood. The crane hooked up the car and began to raise it onto the roof of Hotel Roosevelt.  And although this was a super cool part of the job, the ...

Reading American Like Me by America Ferrera was a very interesting experience as I have grown up in a similar fashion as a first generation immigrant. It is always great to see how individuals respond to living a similar lifestyle. There is always an extreme method of assimilating where the previous culture is lost, preventing assimilation where there is no adoption of American culture or values, or in my case a strong combination of both where I have many different core American values like capitalism and competition but also keep latino values like family and unity.  One of the stories that I read was that of famous actor and musician Lin Manuel Miranda, where he discusses his Puerto Rican Heritage. He states that his Puerto Rican upbringing helped him create his musical "Hamilton" and that it had a great impact on the rest of the art that he has created and continues to create.  This combination of stories really resonated with me. It helped me understand the importanc...

Snowboarding vs Skiing Carving Through Differences: A Deep Dive into the Stylistic, Physical, and Cultural Contrasts between snow sports By: Andrew Mendez Introduction  Imagine gliding down pristine slopes, surrounded by breathtaking mountain views and crisp, snowy landscapes. There are two paths that you can choose to go down. The path of the boarder or the path of the skier. One would think that they have to be very similar right? WRONG. They completely contrast each other in every way. As an avid snowboarding enthusiast that rides with skiers on the USC Ski and Snowboard team, this subject is very important to me.  In this blog post, we'll explore the nuanced differences between snowboarders and skiers, delving into their: Distinct styles Physical approaches Unique cultures Influence and legacies Stylistic Differences: Snowboarders: Known for their fluid, surf-inspired movements, snowboarders gracefully carve through the snow with a single board strapped to both feet using ...

I've been diving into America Ferrera's book, "American Like Me," its collection of 32 essays about her perspective of the American living experience coming from a Honduran immigrant background. It talks about the difference in culture between a child of immigrants and an American citizen that has already assimilated to the American culture while distancing themselves from their roots. As a child of Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants myself, I was very interested in reading about another child of immigrants perspective.  One of the portions of the book that was interesting to read about was the experience that America had in school as a young girl and how she was discriminated against because of her ethnic background. She was never able to fit in to the crowd that she was in and was often made fun of due to her name being "America." After reading this story, I did some research on America Ferrera. America grew up in Woodland Hills, California a demographicall...