The Valpo Core Reader (formerly the Freshman Reader: A Magazine of Student Writing) collects and honors excellent writing from Valparaiso University students who have been through the Valpo Core Program the previous year. These essays address a wide variety of texts and topics and include many genres of writing, including argumentative papers, personal narratives, and more. Main themes are drawn from the curriculum of the Core Program, which is arranged according to important aspects of human experience: origins, education, love, leadership and service, work and vocation, and matters of "life and death."
Cause and Effect Essays
Is Fast Food for College Students? (1986), Peter Steiner
The Runaway Ninja Turtles- Why Were They So Violent (1992), Lisa Trimpe
The Perfect Woman (1989), Laura Van Prooyen
Dorm Volume (1986), Kim Walz
Food: The Great Replacement (1987), Cherie Wibben
Car Crazy Culture (1988), Mark Willer
Burnouts (1985), Zorina Winterrowd
Leadership and Service Essays
The Journey of the Damned (2011), Nick Goodman
There Is No Commandment Greater Than These (2012), David Rutkowski
Family Honor (2012), Taylor Ward
Pilgrimage to Nonviolence: Part 2 (2012), Erin Watkins
Citizenship and Service Essays
Concern with the Lack of Recycling (2008), Jennifer Bronnenberg
"In The Name Of God" (2005), Eric Brooks
Jimmy Stewart and the Good Citizen (2001), Becky Gamage
Values and Politics--Do They Go Hand in Hand? (2007), Kara Griffiths
"On the Run" (2002), Erik Hellmuth
Make Lemonade (2004), Tim Kolzow
A Hall of Mountains (2007), Mike Lanzerotti
Success? (2003), Chelsea Oxton
Hidden Opportunities: The Lake County Police Explorers (2008), Rachel Rodriguez
The Issue of Nutrition in Our School Meals (2008), Carolyn Schwartz
The Oppressed Must Demand (2006), Alex Spalding
I Don't Feel Like Teaching Today (2008), Sarah Volkmann
Coming of Age and Education Essays
Douglass's Cave (2007), Benjamin Barnard
The Mark of a Solid Thought (2006), Ryan Beck
Is Tracking Segregationist? (2004), Laura Bohlmann
Pay Attention! (2006), Kelly Erikson
Focusing the Attention (2007), Anne Ferringer
The Education of a Boy Soldier (2008), Steve Godawa
Plato, Esther, and Ishmael (2008), Michael Graves
More than a Test Score (2003), Alison Harvey
An Economic Enlightenment (2007), Ben Holse
Old Habits (2008), Brett Peterson
Trying to Understand (2001), Laura Sadowski
"A Cave and A Cage" (2005), Jean Stolle
Comparison and Contrast Essays
Two Lives to Live (1991), Hala Al-Rifai
Two Ways to Run a Baseball Team (1984), Richard Bellas
Bold Belle (1994), Banu Berkem
With or Without Him (1994), Angie Boyll
Studies in Women's Personal Growth: 1899 to 1991 (1996), Deanna Bradley
Oahu (1983), Ruth Bugtong
Bass vs. Chandler (1985), Lora Bulmahn
The Male Harness (1992), Krista Castleman
Equal Children (1996), Melissa Fann
Injustice (1990), Deann Feece
Liturgies: Catholic and Lutheran Perspectives (1994), Thomas Fielding
Male or Female: What's the Difference? (1995), Brandy Fulk
The Ace Benchwarmer (1990), Lora Grandrath
A Tale of Two Basses (1996), Charles Grantier
Two Women (1987), Jennifer Grava
Living on my Own (1994), Julie Grocki
The Gravel Road of Time (1990), Mike Halkitis
My Mother Through the Years (1996), Shannon Hamel
Blues and Pastels (1995), William Jenkins
The Price of Freedom (1989), Senta Jorgensen
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X (1992), Ra Joy
Semester Break (1995), Kerri Ann Kielpinski
A Conscious Decision (1993), Melanie Koenig
Changes (1994), Vasilike Kostouros
Daddy's Girl (1993), Amy LaFontaine
Two Bands, Two Legends (1995), Jennifer Latham
Disappearing Stereotypes (1991), Thomas Lavelle
The Cafeteria (1997), Lydia LeMasters
Oceania vs. The Soviet Union (1986), Brian Mather
Meeting in the Middle (1996), Ian Mitchell
Decisions (1990), Therese Nelson
The Mistake I Nearly Made (1995), Nathan Pera
2C Or Not 2C (1985), Paul Rinehart
New York City People (1986), Shari Romar
Those Unfair Parents (1996), Jennifer Rossner
Misconceptions of Vietnam (1994), Amy Ruhter
Prosecution and Defense Counsel (1988), Kimberly Sebold
Real Individuality--Real Class (1984), Teresa Shelton
On the Road for the First Time (1992), John Simshauser
Herzberg--Heart Mountain (1989), Hella Skrotzki
"I Wish the Old Man Would Just Kick Off" (1988), Martin Sonnenberg
Why is NBA Basketball a Joke? (1984), John Speckhard
Rational and Irrational Hunting (1991), Richard Swanson
The Changing Female (1988), Christina Taskoff
Gnomes: Not Merely Small Dwarves (1987), Ken Wenzler
Japanese Food (1991), Yuiko Yagi
Mommy Track (1989), Mark Zimmermann
Definition Essays
To Be an Alien (1985), Anonymous Author
A Sunday Job (1994), Stacey Barnes
Trickle-Down (1984), Brian M. Behling
The Real Meaning of "Mentally Handicapped" (1993), Jennifer Burton
Yellow Hammer (1995), Rebecca Catlin
Poor Little Rich Boy (1991), Ed Cayo
A Squid (1984), Karen Crosset
A Perfect Dive (1992), Brandy Dietel
The True and Inner You (1992), Paul Dunbar
Two Words (1986), Michael Forster
A Home (1990), Kristi Franson
Four Bookworms (1983), Virginia Halcarz
Leadership: Process or Person? (1991), Robert Hedgcock
Engineers are in a Realm of their Own (1997), Bjorn E. Helgeson
What it Means to Wear Braces (1983), Kris Honold
And Things that Go Bump in the Night... (1985), Allison Hudson
Being Tough (1988), Brent Jones
"MS" (1993), Nicole Katonah