The Journey of a Mediocre Writer 

Two days before the semester began this Spring, I was stuck in Florida, and I was dropped from all my classes because I couldn’t pay my tuition bill on time. I scattered the room and called nearly half of my contacts to ease my mind from the fact that I will not be able to start over. The next day, I calmly walked towards my computer, viewed the classes available, and called my advisor. She tried to help me out as best as she could and I added “Writing for the Humanities” into my cart like it was a class I’d be buying. It was. But, this class was more than just writing to me this semester; it allowed me to fully explore what it meant to write, and how powerful it truly is. This Spring semester, I found myself through writing with the ability of expressing myself and the wonders of my mind. 

In the beginning of this semester, we mainly focused on reading different texts, discussing our thoughts with peers, and writing reflections about what we’ve read. We were consistently brainstorming and writing, any thoughts that I had I can simply add into my Blog Posts or participate in class to hear my peers views/perspectives. The Turabian was the writing guide we used throughout this course and it emphasized how easy writing can be, but never will be. It was strategic, provided loads of advice for new writers, and highlighted mistakes that are often made. But, it also broke down stereotypes of what writing is and does, as we dived into diverse topics, I understood that I wasn’t only writing to my professor to be graded on an assignment. Usually, after receiving an assignment, I set myself up for success by providing my body with nutrients (candy) and sitting in a comfortable space (the living room of my Dominican household). Every assignment I received and wrote for this class was one I never thought I would proofread, read outloud, restart, or edit…Because that is not the type of writer I am. I like to say I’m mediocre at this craft. I get the job done and that’s it. But, all of a sudden I wanted to do more, because it seemed like my readers would enjoy my piece, understand my opinions, disagree or agree with my statements, and engage with my writing. 

We had four major essays: On Community essay, Op-Ed, In-Class essay, and the Conference Paper. In every single one of them, I felt like I applied different writing processes described in the Turabian and composed analysis on readings I’ve never encountered before, but was heavily impacted by. Our In-Class essay felt like the one we all prepped the most for since we were reading Her Bodies and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado for a while. Articulating my ideas into words during that final moment came easily to me since I had written notes from my classmates’ in-group discussions and had various perspectives to write from. I grasped that speaking about the things you disagree with often enhances your own arguments and changes the way you discuss with others about many societal topics. 

Overall, throughout the course of this semester I retained that writing comes in different forms; that is being able to look at different perspectives, reading dialogues you don’t align with, and going beyond what you already know. This enhanced my critical thinking skills and evolved me to become a writer that can formulate more than just my own ideas, but interpret others and communicate their point of views through my own lens. Although this class ended up not being one I planned to take, I took so much from this course and the way it realigned me. Revisiting writing styles, techniques, and practices helped me get through each of my major writing pieces. I had to go back and relearn my own writing, not criticize myself to the point that I don’t value the writing I’ve done, but evaluate what I am trying to convey. It was a journey of trying to not procrastinate but understand that sometimes writing, or the best piece of it, takes more time than what you are given. But, also using resources to expand my way of thinking. All paths that don’t make us just a mediocre writers.