December 21, 2018 - 08:34
Earlier this summer, I remember having to choose which writing seminar I wanted the most. Unfortunately as indecisive as I am, I was stuck between choosing this seminar and another one related to health studies. At first, I chose the other one because I wasn’t really sure. However, I kept thinking about this one in the back of my mind, and I switched at literally the last minute by emailing them! So today, as I write this, I consider myself very grateful for taking this class; it was always my first choice in my heart! Since my writing has come such a long way, getting placed into the normal writing seminar meant so much to me. However, I knew that there was still a lot I had to work on when it came to my writing abilities.
On the first day of class, I remember being absolutely nervous since I did not know anyone and it seemed like some people were friends already. The only person I knew was Harry, and we just met about an hour before in our Chinese class. Although we all deserved to be here, I still didn’t fully believe in myself. For that reason, I was very shy for a numerous amount of classes before I began to open up and feel more confident. More than anything though, I was still nervous about my writing, and I thought that it would never measure up to any of the other kids in the class. However, your words of encouragement on my papers always gave me hope and made me more confident! With every close reading and every larger essay we had to do, I began to realize my strengths as well as my weaknesses.
I always felt a little better in one particular area in my writing, and you confirmed it when you told me how my writing reminds you of poetry; you can usually hear my voice, and a majority of my writing consists of adjectives, imagery, and stories. Ever since high school, I always loved that part of my writing and I tried to use it whenever possible. However, I also learned about my weaknesses, which include getting to the point faster, finding structure in my essays, and finding a strong argument to write about! Overall, it seems as though my artistic side of writing is great. If I were building a house, the paint job and the outside decor would look amazing! However, getting down to the facts is a harder task for me; the house wouldn’t have a strong foundation or base to begin with. This semester, I think I focused a bunch of time on fixing my weaknesses, and my writing has improved a lot in that aspect.
What surprised me most however, was how much I enjoyed learning about disability culture! I never would have thought that I would be so interested in learning about this topic. All of the readings we did and all of the videos we watched played a large part in my love for disability culture. I remember specifically when I figured out how much I love this class and learning about disability in general. When the class watched Deej together in the VCAM screening room, I remember getting emotional when DJ was surrounded by his friends and family members at a small, outside get together. He seemed so happy being around the people he cared about, and by the end of that scene I wanted to bawl my eyes out! I really want to learn more about disability culture while I am at Haverford. I want to take more classes similar to this one, and I am now thinking about minoring in health studies (of course I am thinking about a dance minor as well, but who knows what will happen)! I can’t thank you enough for everything this semester; you and your class both quickly topped my list.