Welcome

Thank you for visiting my blog; I have created this in order to help you better understand me and my background as well as ambitions. Here you will be able to access my biography as well as my resume and see some of my work from the Summer of 2010.

Enjoy!

Letter of Intent

Dear Admissions Officer,

The purpose of this letter is to express my intent on applying to your institution’s graduate program. Currently I am a fifth year senior at The College of New Jersey, majoring in Journalism with minors in Philosophy and Communication Studies.

I am confident that my experiences and credentials have prepared me to succeed in a graduate program. Currently I hold the position of Junior Grants Writer and Research Assistant for a healthcare management firm based in New York, ALMS Healthcare Management, Inc. In this capacity I exercise on a daily basis the analytical, research and writing skills that are necessary and crucial for success in a graduate program such as yours. Furthermore, my junior year I was also accepted into and completed an intensive Pre-Legal Summer program at Seton Hall Law. This program simulated a semester of law school condensed into just five weeks—with classes Monday to Sunday, nonstop. Accordingly, I took the following substantive courses: Torts, Contracts, Appellate Advocacy and First Year Legal Writing. The culmination of this program was the composition of an Appellate Brief and its defense in front of three active working judges for approximately 45 minutes.

Please don't hesitate to review my biography, resume and work samples as you consider my application to your institution. Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

Luciano Grullon

Biography

Contrary to popular belief, I was not born in the states. I was actually born in Moca, Dominican Republic on October 1, 1988 during the era of then-President Dr. Joaquin Balaguer. Though some considered it to be manifestly oppressive, the era became synonymous with a sense of security and trust within the community– to the point where people would sleep with their doors unlocked and open at night to allow for air to enter their premises (since there was a scarcity of energy during this period, thus no power for a fan or air conditioner). It was not until my father’s passing on (consequence of an automobile incident on his way to the office) that my mother and I relocated to New Jersey, leaving our comfort zone and the equivalent of a modern day white collar lifestyle (in Dominican terms) to start fresh in the Edgewater, New Jersey, due to the lack of opportunities available in the Dominican Republic.

My first English word was “what”—for some odd reason, this was the only word that stuck with me in those years up until 2^nd grade watching English movies on TV in the Dominican Republic. From 3^rd grade up until 6^th I attended Eleanor Van Gelder Elementary School, followed by Leonia’s Middle School then Leonia High School. It was not until High School that I truly embraced the value of learning, enjoying the advanced economics and English classes mostly. I also understood the significance of volunteering, as I did for several months during my last year in High School at Palisades Medical Center. Currently I am a fifth year senior majoring in Journalism, with minors in Communication Studies and Philosophy. Summer of my Junior year I was selected for Seton Hall Law’s Pre-Legal program, a five week intense program simulating the first year of law school where I immersed myself in Torts, Contracts, Appellate Advocacy and first year legal writing.

Summer of my freshman year I was fortunate enough to work in the Dominican Republic for an outsourced sales entity pushing pharmaceutical commodities to foreign markets. After realizing my potential the first two weeks, I was promoted to Supervisor and was responsible for ensuring quality in pitch as well as delivery of the other employees who were hindered due to their native accents. Summer of my sophomore year I worked for a real estate firm, Manhattan Apartments, in the Leasing Division under a Senior Agent helping show property, engage leads and respond to inquiries. The fall of my senior year I interned with a political consulting firm in upper Manhattan, leading to a job that following summer doing policy analysis, research and writing for a political candidate in the NYS 31^st Senatorial District. During that same summer I was offered an opportunity with a communications firm, Zein Communications as an account executive and creative content writer. Though it was tough balancing both responsibilities, the experience was rewarding. Today I still serve as a content writer for Zein. Thanks to my policy work I was also recommended by a co-worker from the campaign for the position that I currently hold as a Junior Grants Writer & Research Assistant for ALMS Healthcare Management, Inc. The work is intense due to intense deadlines and a great deal of pressure, but it is very rewarding to know you are helping entities such as clinics in New Orleans obtain much needed funds.

My goal is to obtain a graduate degree to cultivate my analytical and writing skills in preparation for a law degree. I aspire to become a transactional attorney while doing pro-bono immigration work and ultimately run for a political office.

Resume

To review my resume, please click here.

I hope that this will illustrate my potential as a young soon-to-be professional to you while also informing you of my non-academic endeavors and their demands.

Recent Work

During this past summer, I worked for Zein Communications as a Creative Content Writer and Account Executive. I wrote a substantial portion of and revised its website, click here to look at it.

I also worked for a political campaign in the most diverse constituency NYC has, the 31st Senatorial District (from Upper West Side to Washington Heights and Lower Bronx), where I served as a policy consultant and assistant director of communications. One of my projects was to write the content for the website; click here to view it.

Relevant Coursework

Seton Hall Law:

First Year Legal Writing

Appellate Advocacy

Contracts

Torts

The College of New Jersey:

(PHIL120) Intro to Logic

(BUS200) Legal & Regulatory Environment

(IMM240) Feature Writing

(COM240) Public Speaking in Business & Government

(COM241) Argumentation & Debate

(JPW250) Intro To Professional Writing

(PHL275) Philosophy of Law

(JPW308) Media Law

(JPW309) Media Ethics

(JPW 350) Magazine Writing

(COM370) Crisis Communication

(COM390) Methods of Communications Research Methods & Analysis

Thank You

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to look at my blog, I hope it provided you with helpful information to better understand my background and ambitions. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at grullon88@gmail.com.

Take care!