Paul Backus

Five years ago, Paul was making decent money at a typical 9-5 office job. However, the soullessness of the job and the office atmoshphere was not worth the paycheck.

So he quit that job and decided to go college for a degree in writing instead. He ended up in a fantastic program--University of California Irvine's one-of-a-kind Literary Journalism--where he nurture his skills and passions as a writer, reporter, and researcher.

He spent a semester of his academic career at University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. In Africa, he was exposed to completely different political and cultural climates than any he had encountered in the United States, despite growing up in Kansas City and living in Southern California for five years.

Paul was able to spend four months learning about South Africa--its people, problems, and politics--inside and outside of the classroom. He also gained some insight on how different people from different places feel about the United States. He believes that the best way to find the closest thing to the real truth of any situation is to hear what is being said about it from several points of view.

B.A. in Literary Journalism with a minor in English, University of California Irvine. June 2008

Staff writer for New University, UCI's student newspaper. Wrote news, movies and music review, opinion articles, sports coverage, and a column from South Africa, among other stories. Paul's articles were frequently put on the front page of the section that they were for. 2006-2008

Contributing writer to Orange County Register's Sun Post News, covering local news in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, California. Also writes restaurant reviews. 2008-Present

Contributing writer to Student Stuff, a new website for current and future college students. 2008-Present