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Faces of participants in the program.
Photos of the 2024 participants of the 2024 Creative Digital Project. Top left to right: Karen Wassef, Erah Arzate, Michelle Lee, and Josh Primus. Bottom left to right: Emma Jansen, Jalyn Fiske, Vasundhara Singh, Emily Mizokami, and Carla Bywaters. Photos by themselves.

Meet the Summer 2024 Creative Digital Projects Participants, 3 of 4

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Today we share our third group of participants in our Creative Digital Projects. Our participants work remotely from 20 different states as well as Washington, D.C. and Montreal, Canada. This is the first year that Texas takes the top spot as having the most participants. Washington, D.C.; Virginia; Maryland; Georgia; Massachusetts; and California are all tied for the second spot.

Today we will introduce our third group, led by Karen Wassef.

Karen Wassef lives in Michigan, where she attends Wayne State University in pursuit of a B.A. in political science and philosophy. Her favorite philosopher is currently Plato. Although she is only a junior currently, Karen intends to start law school after completing her undergraduate degree. Outside of academic writing, Karen loves creative writing as an artistic outlet, along with singing, listening to music, doing her makeup, and reading.

Erah Arzate is from the city of Carson, California, in the county of Los Angeles. A recent graduate from San José State University with a master’s in library and information science degree, Erah also holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from California State University, Dominguez Hills. During free time, Erah enjoys listening to audiobooks and researching special interests.

Carla Bywaters has lived in the Southwest much of her life, with a charming stint along Florida’s First Coast. She holds a J.D. from Boyd School of Law at UNLV, an M.L.I.S. through San José State University, and a B.S. in court reporting from Humphreys University. Carla is fond of reading, writing, and listening to legal podcasts. She looks forward to mentoring students and empowering all her relations as a law librarian.

Jalyn Fiske was born and raised in Texas, but her family is from the Pacific Northwest. She has a B.A. in political science from the University of Missouri, an M.F.A. in creative writing from Goddard College, and is completing her M.S. in library science with a focus in archival studies from the University of North Texas. Most of her career has been in education teaching English, history, and creative writing, as well as serving as an editor for several literary magazines. She currently serves as fiction editor for James Gunn’s Ad Astra magazine. Jalyn is also a published author of speculative fiction short stories, poems, editorials, and hybrid work. Some of her favorite things include musical theatre, cemeteries, horror films, and attending art festivals.

Emma Jansen originates from Wisconsin, where she recently graduated from high school with her associate degree in creative writing. Currently, Emma is taking a gap year to pursue research on ancient Greek literature and translation studies. She plans on going to college next year to study comparative literature and classics. During her free time, Emma enjoys reading, volunteering at her local museum, practicing her Italian, and flying as a private pilot. She appreciates the opportunity to help others learn about the resources at the Library of Congress while improving her own writing skills.

Michelle Lee lives in Maryland but attends school on the West Coast. As a junior majoring in legal studies at the University of Southern California, her curiosity for all things law, writing, and research only continues to grow. Outside of academics, she finds joy in doodling random people, over-commentating on movies, discovering new music genres, and attempting simple baking recipes.

Emily Mizokami lives in Sacramento, California, and holds a B.A. in politics from University of California, Santa Cruz, and is in the M.L.I.S. program at San José State University. She is serving as chair of the Society of American Archivists, Students and New Archives Professionals section, and working as a fellow at the California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives. She has two amazing daughters and one lovely husband. Emily enjoys camping, going out to eat, and reading.

Josh Primus is a Colorado native currently pursuing a remote M.L.I.S at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. He holds a B.A. in linguistics, with a minor in Spanish and a certificate in cognitive science from the University of Colorado Boulder. Josh works as a circulation clerk at the Denver Public Library and has previously interned with the Law Library of Congress, focusing on metadata tagging for foreign legal gazettes. Josh has many interests, but the biggest ones are card and strategy games, reading comics and graphic novels, and language learning.

Vasundhara Singh is an undergraduate pursuing a double major in English and political science at the University of California, Berkeley. She has a keen interest in government structures and international relations. Growing up in a military family, she had the opportunity to live in various parts of the country, which has contributed to her interest in public policy. In her free time, she enjoys reading and going on walks with her dog, Coco.

Pam Sun has previously volunteered for the Law Library of Congress metadata program. Her background is in data and policy analysis and she is interested in collaborative digital projects on a wide range of topics. She holds a B.S. and master’s degrees in public health and data analytics. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and exploring the outdoors.


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