Written in the Hour before Class

After finishing the this week’s readings (or skimming the last two), I was a pleasantly surprised to see that I am capable of writing the assignment so quickly. If you are how I was, you find great pain and extreme difficulty in (1) sitting down, (2) starting to write, (3) writing the first word, (4) first sentence… Fear not! That is the solution; do not be scared that the ideas that you have are not good enough. At least that was the barrier I had to overcome.

I thank my English teachers for their patience and encouragement. But it was not until after high school that I broke through and could write with confidence. I hope find and polish that courage in my students. For me the barrier was disbelief of my potential stemming from situations in my development; for others it might be the fear of harassment for being nerdy. How can a teacher be effective, though, when there are so many psychosocial walls to knock down?

Here is my first (non-lab report) paper since freshman year.