Kornfeld Scholars & Student Showcase

Lewis F. Kornfeld (1916 – 2013) graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in English and journalism before serving in the Marines in World War II. He later joined Radio Shack as an advertising manager before eventually becoming its president during the nascent personal computer revolution of the mid-1970s. His commitment to DU and writing is reflected in his gift to the University to fund Kornfeld Scholars, a yearly scholarship of $8,000 to an outstanding first-year writer. Each year, the Executive Director of Writing selects one writer from a highly competitive pool of writers enrolled in WRIT xx22 and xx33 courses.

Spotlight On - Alexa Fonseca 

2024 Kornfeld Scholar Recipient

By Kamila Kinyon-Kuchar

Alexa Fonseca, DU’s 2024 Kornfeld Scholarship recipient, was a student in my WRIT 1122 Rhetoric of Journalism course. In an interview, Alexa shared her writing experiences and goals as well as the inspirations and process underlying the articles that earned her this prestigious award. 

Alexa has long been interested in psychology, particularly the areas of mental illness and mental health: “In high school… I did a lot of writing in my global health class…and my psychopathology class.” This prior background helped inspire Alexa’s writing in my Rhetoric of Journalism course where she focused in her excellent op-ed on the important topic of mental health among college students: “It was basically about how college freshmen struggle with mental health blocks because they struggle with so many different things when they start off in college.” In explaining her writing process, Alexa discussed how she utilized the affordances of the op-ed genre: “You didn’t need that much advanced terminology. It was really condensed and summarizing. It was a really important topic, and I feel like that made it a lot easier for different readers to understand it and not get lost in complicated wording. So, I really liked that.” At a time when mental health among college students is so crucial, this article continues to have a special Kairos.

A culminating piece that Alexa wrote for my Rhetoric of Journalism course was her feature article about her father’s experiences as an immigrant from Ecuador. In a powerful initial paragraph that immediately captures readers’ attention, she depicts his attack by gangs as he walks home from school in New Jersey. Unexpectedly, a gangster’s exclamation of “Hey, bro wait. He helped me with my math homework” disperses the crowd. Alexa then unravels his immigrant journey: departure from Ecuador, the language barrier, looking after siblings while still a kid, marriage, military service, a prestigious career with the U.S. Space Command. In sharing with me her motivations for undertaking this project, Alexa explained: “I chose to interview my dad because, as an immigrant coming to the United States, he faced a lot of challenges I didn’t face. And I think it was just important to hear his story because it was really inspirational to me.” Alexa emphasizes the personal impact of interviewing her dad: “I got to get to know him better as a person: his childhood and the challenges he faced. So, it helped me strengthen my relationship with him a bit. And I think that was the first interview I did in college with someone, so that was my favorite.” Through this feature article, Alexa demonstrates how a deeply personal topic can inspire audiences.

In relating the value that she finds in writing, Alexa emphasizes: “I would say that my experiences give me more backstory to tell to readers, and it gives me more ways to communicate with people. I think writing is a really important skill to have in general because you could have more ways to communicate effective messages with people, and it helps you produce more well-researched papers and articulate your message the best you can.” Alexa envisions that writing will be important in her professional life: “For my field, psychology, you need to do a lot of research and writing…it could really help me to express my message better, to connect with others better, and to have more success in my career.” At the same time, Alexa thinks that it is important to find the time to write for oneself.

As our interview came to an end, Alexa offered the following advice for others: “I think that one of the most important things to have as writers is not to be scared of sharing your writing with other people. I think a lot of writers are usually scared of that in the beginning, having people edit it, and critique you. I think it’s important to just be open to having other peoples’ input on your own writing so you could become a better writer.”