Welcome

I'm Kyle Hutzler - a sixteen year old highly interested in business, economics, and finance. Over the past two years, I've spent upwards of 200 hours working on a policy paper on education reform. My original intentions with this paper - completed independently - were simply to make the most of my perverse sense of fun. Along the way, I happened to learn of the Davidson Fellowship - a scholarship for gifted high-school students.

It was from here that I began to redirect the work for submission - garnering the support of professionals close to home and around the country. In July 2008, I learned that I was selected as a 2008 Fellow and was honored to attend the awards ceremony at the Library of Congress in September. Here you will find the portfolio as submitted in March 2008.
- Fall 2008

Friday, November 30, 2007

Sing a simple song

I identify strongly with Wayne Dyer's belief that "analysis is a violent intellectual act" in an often reckless, ignorant pursuit of the quanta. This paper has prided itself on extending beyond the mere deconstruction of fact and argument towards a true and meaningful synthesis. It is in this effort, that I have come to find a writing style - strongly influenced by the British advocacy journalism championed by The Economist, that is at once authoritative, lucid, precise - and occasionally witty.

The portfolio is divided into three parts: first, a brief analysis highlighting the paper's thesis and issues immediate relevant to its proposals; second, and the paper's essence, a policy paper; and third, a demonstration of advocacy journalism. The writing process is essentially complete - I have one major essay remaining, and several editorials have been ommitted from the site for the time being. The most time-consuming aspect lately has been the graphic design work for the final portfolio (the first several essays showcase the new design).

As you read, you'll be sure notice some things about the paper: The policy paper is intensely focused - bullets with justifications as necessary. The more eccentric titles do, in the end, have a reason to their allusion and rhyme. The title of the portfolio itself is inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Quotes are in some ways almost a theme. I hope that you will find that it is an undying belief in progress that has guided this work. It was Emerson who said that “an original sentence, a step forward, is worth more than all the centuries.”

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