All my writing experience leading up to college was the equivalent to the menus that the restaurants give the under 12 crowd with a few crossword puzzles and cheesy word searches. Sure I was encouraged to be creative, but it was limited to a few topics and had to stay within a strict rubric. For me, college was like the restaurants that seat you at a table with a paper tablecloth that you are actually allowed to draw whatever your heart desires. Obviously there were still guidelines and expectations, but it was within my freshman year that I realized that teachers liked when students pushed limits. I have been pushing limits my entire life, and most often this has ended up with consequences. However, with writing I was praised for my creativity and for my ability to think differently. Writing has become a safe outlet for me to push social boundaries and limits without being disciplined for it.
Through my discovery of my love of writing, I learned that I don’t need to restrict my writing to a classroom setting. One of the most rewarding pieces of writing I have done is a weekly “Current Events” email that I sent out to my entire sorority. As freshman in the sorority, we are able to run for “jobs” that we earn points for which determine the room we live in our sophomore year. I proposed to the sorority that I create a position where I sent weekly entertaining and informative emails. With a mixture of world news, Michigan news, and of course “sorority” news, my emails became unexpectedly popular. As the emails were forwarded across campus, I felt a sense of pride that someone other than my teacher cares and enjoys what I have to say. It was then that I realized that my writing has the power to evoke emotion and make someone laugh even if they just failed their econ exam. I was not writing for a grade or to get into college, but writing purely because I wanted to. I found myself putting of my other work because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone by not having time to writing my weekly email.
At age 19 I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that my passion for writing will evolve into a career. However, I can say that I hope it remains part of my life. Writing has the potential to evoke emotion in another person, and that is not something that an exam or test can do. Whether or not the reader is a teacher or a friend, I now view writing as a chance to show someone a little piece of who I am as a person, not as a grade. I write because it’s simple, but also because it’s complex. I write because I can.
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