The Road Not Taken
I remember the day specifically. December 11th, 2008. I had just gotten home from teaching a dance class. My mom and dad were in the kitchen making dinner. I was on the couch in the next room checking my email.
The next thing I can recall is screaming bloody murder. Except no one was trying to kill me... In fact, I had just received the best news of my life.
I was accepted into the Class of 2013 for the University of Michigan.
I have honestly never been so happy in my life.
I remember the next few days vividly: I called all my family members who lived in the state of Michigan to tell them the news, some of my friends wore U of M shirts to school (just a reminder that I lived in Buckeye country so this actually meant something), my principal announced my acceptance over the PA system, my parents sent me yellow flowers with a blue ribbon. It was a very big accomplishment for me. Attending U of M had been my lifelong dream.
I started counting down the days until I could move into 3513 Couzens Hall in late August. Soon enough the day was here. I ate my first meal in the dining hall, met my first-ever roommate, made plans past midnight and didn't have to tell my parents where I was. I loved it.
Then school started. And I received my first assignment. It was from George Cooper for my English 125 class. The assignment was his infamous “Hawk in the Sky” essay prompt, although at the time I was unaware that it was legendary.
I freaked out because my professor was asking the impossible: find a hawk in the Ann Arbor sky, figure out it’s journey, and write about it for Monday. I didn't even have a week, I remember thinking to myself. There was no way I was going to be able to write this thing.
Boy did I surprise myself. I ended up not even really writing about the hawk at all and turned into a reflection on the new changes I was experiencing when being away at college. I was very impressed with my essay, even though it’s not the best piece of writing I have done. But it was a great start for my first assignment ever at the great University of Michigan
My journey at Michigan led me through many classes that required writing. As a history major, I have rarely taken a class that wasn't essay or paper based, unless it was fulfilling my math or science requirements. I started writing for classes almost every day.
During my second semester as a freshman, one history class required that I write a weekly reading response. I had to write papers for an upper-level women and gender course. I even had to prepare reports for my Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program presentation. These three writing styles were all completely different, yet still academic. I learned to write in new ways that I hadn't before. I used new strategies to frame arguments, I figured out more professional ways to include research into papers, and I adapted an overall better style and tone of writing.
My journey continued through my sophomore and junior years. I wrote a paper for a biology class on the enzyme that is involved in the tolerance of lactose in the human body. Now that was interesting. Science writing was something I had never done before, and believe me, it was something that I never wanted to do again (note: I am no longer pre-med). I found myself writing in Italian to complete my language requirement for LSA. And of course, I was writing reading responses, academic blog posts, essays and research papers for my true passion: history.
Through these two years I rediscovered my interest in studying the Third Reich and the Holocaust. I owe this to Kathleen Canning, my history professor for History 322: Origins of Nazism. She reminded me what it was like to immerse yourself in something you were fascinated by and encouraged me to follow my dreams (studying history) instead of pursuing something that may seem more practical (such as attempting to go to medical school). Surprisingly, my parents were supportive of me the whole time.
Senior year I enrolled in English 225 with one of my closest friends. I was taking it as a requirement for the Minor in Writing, but I was also taking it because I had an interest in getting away from the formal academic writing I had been doing the past three years. I wanted the chance to explore different genres without going completely crazy... for example, there is no way I could have enrolled in a creative non fiction class. It’s just not possible.
English 225 proved to be a very important class in that I learned what I can’t do. I can’t write an effective persuasive essay without research to backup my claims. It takes at least three solid and severely revised essays of a personal reflection before I can even think it is at the level it needs to be to turn it in. And that no matter how hard I tried, or attempted not to try, writing poetry isn’t really my thing. However, I had fun. I learned a lot about not just writing but the ways in which I prefer to express myself. Actually... I even learned a lot about myself. Period. The things I chose to write about really had me dig deep into some memories and emotions that I had never had the chance to reflect on before.
Now I find myself enrolled in the Minor in Writing Capstone Course, Writing 400, choosing to write a series of essays on why I love hard copies of books and magazines and why I think e-Readers are the devil. I’ve had many challenges with these essays. For one, I’m dealing with senioritis. But I’m also struggling because there is not a lot of research done on this exact topic. I was able to find a lot on why print publications are slowly dying and the benefits of having an e-Reader. But there is very little information on what I was pursuing... what exactly is making these changes happen. Do people honestly no longer love books?
Throughout the process of the course I found myself really loving writing about writing and adding my own reflections into it. It reminded me of my English 125 class, and how I took an assignment and completely shaped it into something I never thought it would be. In my eyes, I took the road less traveled.
Not only did I take that with my writing, but that is the best way to describe my journey at Michigan. I was the only graduate of the 100-person Huron High School Class of 2009 to arrive at U of M in the fall. I knew no one here and completely gave myself a new chance at everything.
As you enter my portfolio, I leave you with this. U of M has been the best four years of my life. I have loved every minute of it, the good and the bad. I will miss it every day I’m absent from Ann Arbor. My life has been completely turned upside down and changed for the better. And all because I took the road less traveled.
The Road Not Taken
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
-Robert Frost, Lines 16-20
The next thing I can recall is screaming bloody murder. Except no one was trying to kill me... In fact, I had just received the best news of my life.
I was accepted into the Class of 2013 for the University of Michigan.
I have honestly never been so happy in my life.
I remember the next few days vividly: I called all my family members who lived in the state of Michigan to tell them the news, some of my friends wore U of M shirts to school (just a reminder that I lived in Buckeye country so this actually meant something), my principal announced my acceptance over the PA system, my parents sent me yellow flowers with a blue ribbon. It was a very big accomplishment for me. Attending U of M had been my lifelong dream.
I started counting down the days until I could move into 3513 Couzens Hall in late August. Soon enough the day was here. I ate my first meal in the dining hall, met my first-ever roommate, made plans past midnight and didn't have to tell my parents where I was. I loved it.
Then school started. And I received my first assignment. It was from George Cooper for my English 125 class. The assignment was his infamous “Hawk in the Sky” essay prompt, although at the time I was unaware that it was legendary.
I freaked out because my professor was asking the impossible: find a hawk in the Ann Arbor sky, figure out it’s journey, and write about it for Monday. I didn't even have a week, I remember thinking to myself. There was no way I was going to be able to write this thing.
Boy did I surprise myself. I ended up not even really writing about the hawk at all and turned into a reflection on the new changes I was experiencing when being away at college. I was very impressed with my essay, even though it’s not the best piece of writing I have done. But it was a great start for my first assignment ever at the great University of Michigan
My journey at Michigan led me through many classes that required writing. As a history major, I have rarely taken a class that wasn't essay or paper based, unless it was fulfilling my math or science requirements. I started writing for classes almost every day.
During my second semester as a freshman, one history class required that I write a weekly reading response. I had to write papers for an upper-level women and gender course. I even had to prepare reports for my Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program presentation. These three writing styles were all completely different, yet still academic. I learned to write in new ways that I hadn't before. I used new strategies to frame arguments, I figured out more professional ways to include research into papers, and I adapted an overall better style and tone of writing.
My journey continued through my sophomore and junior years. I wrote a paper for a biology class on the enzyme that is involved in the tolerance of lactose in the human body. Now that was interesting. Science writing was something I had never done before, and believe me, it was something that I never wanted to do again (note: I am no longer pre-med). I found myself writing in Italian to complete my language requirement for LSA. And of course, I was writing reading responses, academic blog posts, essays and research papers for my true passion: history.
Through these two years I rediscovered my interest in studying the Third Reich and the Holocaust. I owe this to Kathleen Canning, my history professor for History 322: Origins of Nazism. She reminded me what it was like to immerse yourself in something you were fascinated by and encouraged me to follow my dreams (studying history) instead of pursuing something that may seem more practical (such as attempting to go to medical school). Surprisingly, my parents were supportive of me the whole time.
Senior year I enrolled in English 225 with one of my closest friends. I was taking it as a requirement for the Minor in Writing, but I was also taking it because I had an interest in getting away from the formal academic writing I had been doing the past three years. I wanted the chance to explore different genres without going completely crazy... for example, there is no way I could have enrolled in a creative non fiction class. It’s just not possible.
English 225 proved to be a very important class in that I learned what I can’t do. I can’t write an effective persuasive essay without research to backup my claims. It takes at least three solid and severely revised essays of a personal reflection before I can even think it is at the level it needs to be to turn it in. And that no matter how hard I tried, or attempted not to try, writing poetry isn’t really my thing. However, I had fun. I learned a lot about not just writing but the ways in which I prefer to express myself. Actually... I even learned a lot about myself. Period. The things I chose to write about really had me dig deep into some memories and emotions that I had never had the chance to reflect on before.
Now I find myself enrolled in the Minor in Writing Capstone Course, Writing 400, choosing to write a series of essays on why I love hard copies of books and magazines and why I think e-Readers are the devil. I’ve had many challenges with these essays. For one, I’m dealing with senioritis. But I’m also struggling because there is not a lot of research done on this exact topic. I was able to find a lot on why print publications are slowly dying and the benefits of having an e-Reader. But there is very little information on what I was pursuing... what exactly is making these changes happen. Do people honestly no longer love books?
Throughout the process of the course I found myself really loving writing about writing and adding my own reflections into it. It reminded me of my English 125 class, and how I took an assignment and completely shaped it into something I never thought it would be. In my eyes, I took the road less traveled.
Not only did I take that with my writing, but that is the best way to describe my journey at Michigan. I was the only graduate of the 100-person Huron High School Class of 2009 to arrive at U of M in the fall. I knew no one here and completely gave myself a new chance at everything.
As you enter my portfolio, I leave you with this. U of M has been the best four years of my life. I have loved every minute of it, the good and the bad. I will miss it every day I’m absent from Ann Arbor. My life has been completely turned upside down and changed for the better. And all because I took the road less traveled.
The Road Not Taken
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
-Robert Frost, Lines 16-20