Initially going into this class all I heard from seniors were about blogs. I cam into this class not caring for them as we were only gonna do them once every 2 weeks. Although to my surprise they have changed me more than I believed they would
The blog that I enjoyed writing the
most is the place to be one. For me thinking about the future undoubtedly scares me, although when I was thinking about the places I will hopefully travel that fear momentarily washed away. Traveling is something I am genuinely passionate about, going from thinking what my life would be like there to writing it in words was very fun to do. All of these places that I added onto the blog were not spur of the moment pieces. Rather they were countries that had a meaning to me for why I would want to travel there. For example I added Guatemala because it’s a place where my friend’s family lives. With her speaking so much about it from the culture to the food I slowly found the urge to explore it for myself. I am not someone that would be very open in essays however being able to talk about my name and what it means to me and my family was very comforting. Contrary to my previous writing pieces the words just seemed to flow out of me without trying. Reflecting upon this post and the others I realized that my comfortability and attitude towards writing has changed.
The nature of the blogs being as creative as they are has truly expanded my relationship with writing entirely. As a child I loved writing little stories about world’s colored in pink and blue. However with the use of writing pieces being added more and more into school, with the constricted feeling that they gave from the use of rubrics and Ap guidelines. The positive connotation I once had on writing had completely changed into this rejecting attitude towards any piece of writing. Being very used to being given specific topics and rubrics to follow the beginning of the semester had me utterly confused and lost. I felt like nothing I had to say was interesting enough to talk about for 600-700 words. After an extremely long brainstorming session with Carol Yin I finally found it. The topic that was going to be my first vlogs, favorite shows. The entire process of writing these blogs have become so much more comfortable the more I do it. I also believe it is an amazing way to communicate with others. At least for me during class I did not make as many friends, however being able to read what friends in other periods made me become closer with them and new friends in general.
Addition to my attitude towards reading, so did my writing skills. I have always been a more personal writer than other people. Being able to connect with the piece is very important to me and something I look for in every writing piece. Most notably what changed my blog to become comfortable to be able to talk about my name and what it means to my family is Matthew Ru’s piece. His blog called “My Increasingly Wishful Pickleball Wishlist” was so bewildering to read that it broke me out of my comfort zone. As I became more conscious of making sure that I am adding pieces of myself into the blog, I began to add a distinct tone onto my pieces.
This first semester made me realize that I am able to be alone. I have always been the student to make friends easily and chit chat throughout the period. Although maybe with all the stress of college applications and AP classes, I have become much more comfortable with being by myself. Although with this I never felt like I couldn’t comfortably communicate with my classmates. With the use of blogging and being able to read what other people are passionate about. It became this unique process where you know so much about someone but don’t at the same time. I think this feeling of being comfortable alone will stick with me and I am glad for it. I also hope that this new attitude of writing will stick with me throughout my life.
Biswo, your comment about hearing about blogs going into this class stood out to me because that’s also what I heard about AP Lit before deciding to take it. It was actually the deciding factor that made me take the class because the seniors I spoke to told me they really enjoyed writing blog posts so I’m glad that you found meaning from them. I appreciate how you mentioned that in contrast to your other works of writing, these posts were much easier to write. I also relate to that because for me, having the freedom of being able to choose our topics has made the process much more enjoyable as a whole. Something else that stood out to me about your blog is its format. I didn’t get a chance to read any of your posts before but looking at your site now I feel like it has one of my favorite layouts because everything is connected on a timeline. I like it because I feel like this reflects how much care you have put into your posts and the way that they each have meaning to you.
Biswo, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your “Places to Be” blog. I also am anxious about the future, but somehow the thought of travel removes some of that anxiety, probably because it doesn’t carry any pressure like college, careers, etc. do. Writing blog posts also provided a sense of comfort for me, even though I knew they would be on display for the class, it was comforting knowing there wasn’t a strict rubric or guidelines for the post. I also felt like I lost touch with the creative writing that was encouraged in elementary school, so blog writing seemed impossible for me at first; I also was very doubtful and thought my life wasn’t interesting enough to write about for 700 words at a time. I enjoyed your refection at the end about becoming comfortable with your solitude. For me, I think it happened naturally with being so busy this fall and not being able to hang out with friends all the time. While I am an extroverted person, I do find peace in my time alone and recharging in that way.