December 11, 2016 - 21:02
Dear Jody,
I can’t believe I’m at this point in time right now. I feel as if it was just yesterday when I first stepped foot on campus and left my old life behind. It’s been quite the journey. I’ve changed so much as a person, and this class had so much to do with that. My writing has grown, I’ve grown as a person, and I feel like I know so much more about my own identity, as well as the importance of the identities of others.
I’ve always kind of been fascinated by language and culture, especially how the two interact. This class has really opened up a new area of interest: environment and identity. Every day in class, we discussed our identities. We discussed where we were from, what experience we had in relation to the reading that day, as well as our opinions and thoughts on the readings. I know I don’t speak that much, I like to listen more, but I think I learned the most from listening. I loved hearing everybody’s thoughts on the various readings we had to do. I think everyone was so interesting and always had something important to say. The class structure was simply amazing; I loved just being able to discuss amongst ourselves for an hour and twenty minutes. I learned so much this way, and I know everybody else did too.
Most of all, however, I loved writing for this class. I don’t typically like writing about myself, so the first and second prompts were a bit difficult for me, but once we got to the literary analysis portion I really loved it. I tried to expand my claims, to delve deeper into our readings and really connect them in unconventional ways. The bi-weekly writing conferences were the most help with this. I can’t thank you enough for your time and your expertise. I grew so much with my writing, and I’m so proud of that. I feel much more confident as a writer, and I think I’ve even learned to love writing even more. It was a lot of work, that’s for sure, but I am so happy that I’ve come this far and improved so much.
The six-week project was also one of my favorite things that I did this semester. It was such a pleasure working with Eva. I also got to work with my friends a lot on this one, as I needed their help on deciding what music to include in the survey. This project helped to fuel my interest in the connection between music and culture, as well as comfort zones, contact zones, and music and language. It also inspired me to take classes in the future that relate to bilingual literature as well as learn more about contact zones and comfort zones and how the two relate.
I also just briefly wanted to touch on the field trip. I think it was so important that we went to those gardens and had conversations with those young women who took care of them. It was such an eye opening experience, as well as an amazing way to get a look at how environment and identity interact.
My first semester here at Bryn Mawr has been absolutely amazing. Thank you to my teammates, my roommates, my classmates, my new friends, and also to all of the professors who made this experience so remarkable. I can’t wait for next semester, and all the semesters after that. Thank you to all of my Esem classmates who encouraged thoughtful discussion and to you, Jody, for all of your help. Thank you for making this semester such an incredible experience.
All the best,
Anna