A Writer Is Born

I just found my first college paper.

The subject was "Self In Culture" and the class was UMKC English 110 - which I took during high school at the tender age of 17. I got a lot of attention that year for my writing skills, but it's been years since I actually read any of it. I don't think I've looked at this particular paper since I started college - even though I remember it fondly.

Reading it now, I'm struck with the incongruity of its existance. The ghost of my high school self is ever-present, and I've always mourned those years as some of the worst of my life. The essay is intensely personal - and was perhaps the bravest act I ever committed in high school - especially as I gave the teacher permission to read it aloud. Where and how I found the courage to write it is completely beyond me.

I'm also struck with the raw talent that I see in those three brief pages. I've never given myself enough credit for that....and perhaps it's something I need to focus on in the next year or so.

Perhaps I'll publish the article here later this week. There are many of you with whom I'd love to share it. For now, I'm going to go back to work to see what other treasures I may find.

Comments

Shelda said…
That sounds like a wonderful thing to have found, and read. Kind of neat to find an earlier self, and find her brave and talented, eh? ;)

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