Moment #1
I'm in sixth grade and I'm loving the structure that middle school offers. At this point, I know that I love to read so maybe English class might be fun, but honestly, school does not interest me. Then, Mr. Mosack came. He was our Language Arts student teacher for the semester and he told us that his goal was to be 'real world' with us. One day, he called me up to his desk and he asked me if I write. I kind of glanced around the room, wondering if he was tricking me. "I write, yeah, for homework and stuff," I answered. He gave me a half smile and said "No, no I mean do you like to write for fun? You are very creative and have solid writing skills. I think you could write a great story. Would you think about writing a short story for me sometime?" In short, I handed him a copy of my short story a few weeks later and we worked together to publish it to a youth publishing site. Writing is a huge part of me to this day and something that gives me confidence in who I am. I'm not sure where I would be without Mr. Mosack's belief in me. Moment #2 Good ol' junior year of high school. A teacher once again gave me a chance to step it up and believe in my potential. At this point, I know that I can write well and honestly I don't have time to write in my free time anymore, so I wrote to get good grades. Then, Mr. Friedman came. He stood up in front of the classroom and told us there would be no grades this year. Our jaws drop of course because college applications are being stuffed into our brains right now. He and I had a one-on-one conversation together outside of the classroom afterwards because I was ignorantly concerned. He said, "Kelly, you don't have to write for a grade now, aren't you happy? Take your risks. Let your thoughts go and just write." He is why I am an English Education major because he gave me the a-ha moment that I could use my time in school to do something I enjoyed, freely write. I wasn't being tied down to a grade that defined me. He was letting my own words define me which is ultimately why I am passionate about writing to begin with. Moment #3 A lot of discovery happens freshman year of college am I right? I was looking for an outlet to be Kelly and I stumbled across CSU's magazine. They were looking for writers and I not-so-surprisingly interviewed to fill a spot. A week later, I turned in my first article to my editors about making peace with others around you by respecting differences and celebrating identities. Two days later, my editors emailed me asking if I could come in to talk about my article. I was so nervous that entire day because I was filled with dread about being knocked down for my unique writing style or the content I chose to write about. I was prepared to defend myself with the excuse that I wasn't a journalism major, but I shakily walked into their office and joyfully walked out of their office. They had offered me the cover story for the next issue. Once again, people believed in me. My editors had handed over their trust with abundance and I accepted it by writing directly from my heart. I want my students to know they can be trusted so they can find their soul through pen and paper, musical notes, a baseball bat, meditation, or whatever their heart desires that helps them see the horizon a bit more clearly.
3 Comments
Julia
9/11/2018 02:42:44 pm
These are some cool touchstone moments! The one I am most intrigued by is the second one; it would be very cool to elaborate on how your and other students' writing and excitement changed once they realized that they would not be graded.
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Kelly, I am totally in agreement with your sixth grade teacher because, oh man, you are a really great story teller. I love how your moments are a timeline of your love for writing becoming bigger. I also didn't know you wrote for CSU, so I will definitely have to check that out. I think your best moment to expand on would be the second. I know I personally have struggled with writing freely in an environment surrounded by the pressure of school and grades, and I wonder how we as future teachers could implement a new system that would be similar to the one of your junior year teacher. I think it is crazy important to give students a chance to express themselves, but how do we do that when required curriculum is so strict?
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I loved reading this! I can really see your personality in your writing and it makes the stories very animated and real for the reader. It was honestly kind of hard to pick one that I wanted more elaboration on because you added such great and accessible details to each one of these moments. The only part I found myself being more curious on is the story you wrote and got published! (Super dope btw) What was the story about? What was the experience of writing it like for you? How did the publishing process work and how did it feel when it was over and you became a published writer (!!) ?
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Greetings!I'm Kelly! I like to find beauty in what might seem mundane to us over time and bring to life what we experience each day. Check out the About Me tab for an additional look at who I am. Archives
July 2019
Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is. |