Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

When this project was first introduced I knew immediately what I wanted to research. I wanted to research why the Banzai Pipeline is the best wave in the world. However I initially was going to focus on why the crowd it draws to its shores are what make it the best wave in the world as opposed to the wave itself. Then upon the first meeting with Professor Hodges, I was told that this was too safe an argument. The truly counterintuitive argument would be to cite a surf break that no one would ever look at. I began to research New Jersey surfing and initially searched only on google scholar and the Rowan Campbell library services as they provided peer reviewed sources. His feedback greatly helped to steer me in a better direction when improving my essays. It was because of his feedback and my own critical review of my work that I believe that my final essays are of a much higher caliber than their original drafts.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Throughout my research I came across a variety of sources from temperature graphs to swell charts to doctoral papers and beyond. I was able to understand what was important about each of these texts in order to understand how they could help prove my argument that the Jersey Shore is home to the best surf break in the world. Many of the sources about New Jersey were pointing out alleged flaws, from summer crowds to shifting breaks, and frigid temps, but it was in these alleged flaws that I found what was special about New Jersey. Despite these issues, we persist, persevere, and thrive and I talked about how these flaws are positive extensively throughout my Definition and Causal arguments

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

I wrote this essay to prove that the Jersey Shore has the best surf break in the world because I have had some of the best experiences of my life in that brownish-greenish water. I am aware of the fact that New Jersey receives no attention from the surf community, so I wrote in order to shed some light on what makes New Jersey surf special. The opening paragraph of my definition argument shows that from an outside perspective, the Jersey Shore is a gross, trash ridden stretch of beaches, but then I explain thereafter in my essay what makes this surf break the best in the world.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Throughout my research I was able to dissect and analyze various sources to see what would support my claims that New Jersey is the best surf break in the world. There is little written on this topic, but by understanding my own experiences with my home break and the science behind surfing I was able to gather information that would demonstrate what makes New Jersey a hidden gem in the surfing world. Without my local knowledge of winter dredging and the necessity for five millimeter wetsuits then I would have been lost when looking for evidence as no peer-reviewed authors have written about New Jersey surf. Instead I search for evaluations of the effects of off-shore dredging in the winter and what the change in temperature is from winter and summer which led me to NOAA.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

I wrote this paper to shed light on New Jersey surf, but also to show how valued Pipeline is to the surfing community. The most difficult part of this writing process was trying to dismantle the argument for the Banzai Pipeline because I have so much respect for that wave and those who risk their lives surfing it. However, I hoped to show all those who read my paper that the Jersey Shore has the best surf because it pushes the surfer while also allowing anyone to paddle out into our water. This led me to my search for sources that showed the sexism at Pipeline in the past which led me to my New York Times article on the lack of surf contests involving women. I gave proper credit to the sources that I used in my paper, but also filled much of the paper with my own information and experience from surfing in New Jersey the last five years.