Introducing myself and my journal: Holly Tsur's Journey

About Me:
I am a 56-year young woman who lives in a picturesque historic town in Forest Grove, Oregon that dates back to the 1840s. I live with my wonderful partner, Paul, and our two crazy, genius, hilarious cats, Emma and Bandit. My 27-year old daughter, Ayalla, and my 24-year old son, Eitan, are well on their ways to creating productive and happy lives for themselves and they are my life's greatest pride. Paul's three grown children are all off in various parts of the world establishing themselves as global contributors. I am very grateful that we both have such great kids who are all such nice young adults.

I have worked as a technical communicator since 1977 doing technical writing, instructional design, Web content authoring, marketing communications documentation, and writing creative, consumer-friendly articles for numerous companies and organizations. My client list includes companies that do business in everything from high-tech to medical diagnostics to energy efficiency to garden products for consumers. Since 1983, I have worked largely as a freelance writing consultant, with a 5-year stint between 2004 and 2009 where I worked as a full-time senior technical writer for a medical diagnostics company. I have written a case study about an astrophysics lab in Melbourne, Australia that uses Intel's Fortran compiler to help map the universe's origins. I have written articles about raised bed vegetable gardening. I have even written an article about paranormal activity in historic buildings in my town. So, my technical aptitude spans a very wide range of subject matter, industries, and audiences. Think of me as a translator who converts complex and unorganized information into clear, concise, and engaging documents that my clients' customers will readily understand and appreciate. I put myself through the hard work of learning sometimes very difficult things so that I can make them easier for others to understand.

Educationally, I'm a bit of an anomaly. Unlike most of my professional peers, I have no college education and learned most of my job skills through self-study and on-the-job training. When asked by potential clients where I got my education, I sometimes think I should say, \"The school of hard knocks.\" Taking the educational path that came my way has not been an easy one. So, I always feel like I need to make up for my lack of formal education by working twice as hard as others to get up to speed technically with the information I need to convey to my audiences. I'm largely interested in this opportunity offered by World Pulse as a way to supplement the educational credentials that I lack and because learning journalistic skills has great appeal for me. I'd love to research topics related to women's issues around the world and then convey them in interesting ways for World Pulse audiences to help better the lives of women around the globe.

Recently, I signed up for a couple of writing workshops that I'm excited about that promise to teach me skills at writing children's books and magazine articles. I am hopeful that learning these skills will allow me to reach children in ways that are helpful and interesting for them, while providing me with a fun creative outlet and more opportunities for income. I think it's important to always have something new and exciting to look forward to in life, and this is my latest new and exciting venture.

When I'm not writing (or studying subjects I plan to write about), I enjoy spending time in my flower and vegetable garden that I created behind my historic home, reading both fiction and non-fiction alike, and volunteering for several organizations associated with historic home preservation, community gardening, and ecosystem restoration.

No matter what happens, I'm excited to learn from this application process and welcome the opportunity to apply.

My Passions:
My kids, my cats, my partner, Paul, my garden, my ca. 1865 2nd French Empire Victorian home that I have worked so hard to restore for five years, writing children's books

My Challenges:
Finding work in this tough economy, facing the very real likelihood that I will need to rent out my amazing home if I cannot find work, helping my 83-year old mother who has Alzheimer's Disease.

My Vision for the Future:
I see a future where American troops no longer fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, but where American volunteers help to rebuild those countries and educate the children within those countries rather than bomb them. I see a future where countries work together to find better ways that allow their citizens to live sustainably, reverse global warming and environmental stress, and create new technologies that reduce negative environmental impact. I see a future where jobs will be plentiful and our children will not have to struggle to survive. I see a future where access to higher education will be more significantly sponsored by governments so that all who want an education will not have to go into severe debt to make that happen. I see a future where women will be rewarded for their work equally to men, and where just as many women as men will manage and own companies. I see a future where men and women will equally share roles in child rearing and managing households. I see a future that is free from spousal and child abuse. I see a future where my children will one day own their own homes and be relatively free from debt. I see a future where more people will learn to grow and preserve their own foods, have greater connection with nature, and become physically and emotionally healthier as a result. I see a future where more people will give to and donate their time to charities. I see a future where fewer people will have to be incarcerated in jails. I see a future where people will no longer consider themselves superior to each other or to other living things, because I believe that this misguided belief in one's superiority over others lies at the root of many of the world's ills.

My Areas of Expertise:
Writing, researching, project management, and conveying information in clear, concise, and engaging ways that help others to better understand and enjoy what they are learning