As you hopefully learned from Anne Lamott in “Shitty First Drafts,” writing doesn’t happen all at once and isn’t always pretty. Let’s get our thoughts together with some pre-writing.
In the Project #1: Education Narrative assignment, I posed several questions to help you get started thinking about your education narrative–the answers to which may or may not end up in the final version. I also asked you to add more questions to the list, and as you do, I will add them to the assignment instructions and here (time permitting).
Read through the list of questions and write in a comment answers to 3-5 of the questions that make sense for you to try to answer. Or use the questions as a jumping off point. These are thinking questions, not quiz questions, and there are no wrong answers (that is not a challenge!) only answers that lead you to the next thoughts, and the next. Feel free to comment on your classmates’ answers as well.
Brainstorming Questions:
- What is a moment, a person, or experience that led you to choose HMGT as your major? or that has led you to any other choice you have made regarding your education?
- Who is a role model for you in hospitality? as a writer? as a student? as a person?
- Describe a transformative experience you had as a learner–either in school or in life.
- What metaphor could help describe education for you–think about how Freire talks about the banking model, in which teachers deposit information into students, or Plato, who uses light and dark as metaphors for education.
- What’s something you read so far this semester that connects to your experiences with education? Choose a passage and write about how it represents what you have experienced.
- How did you know college in general or City Tech specifically was the right choice for you? was it always?
- How did you develop your aesthetic sensibility, and how does that relate to your hospitality goals?
- What’s been the hardest thing you’ve had to learn–again, in formal education or in life?
- What expertise have you developed, how, and what can that do for you?
- NEW QUESTION: Many of our education narrative models have included the process of learning to read, especially Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Toni Morrison, and Jacqueline Woodson. What was an experience you had learning to read, or learning to read at a different level or in a different capacity, that affected how you encountered your world?
The most difficult lesson I had to learn about education was that I had to be curious from a young age and motivate myself, even if it was difficult at the time. As a result, I developed the ability to study without the need of pressure from anyone, and had me as a motivator. One transformative experience was moving to my country and recalling the language and the educational system that I had to quickly adjust to.
Ia, these are great starts to explore what you want to write about in your education narrative! I want to know more about your curiosity at a young age–can you tell a story about it? Can you share a memory of when you were able to self-motivate? Shifting between education systems would be a great topic to explore for your essay if you’re interested–what are some of the differences, how did you adjust, and what obstacles did you encounter? Using details and personal narratives will shape your narrative into something that is engaging and motivating for the reader. I encourage you to add more in another comment as you begin to develop materials to then revise into your first draft. I’m excited to read more!
The difficult challenge in terms of education was being prepared for criticism/judgement. From 1st-5th grade I almost never took criticism well, because I thought that they were just being strict and relentless, and it made me lose confidence. In my 6th grade, I had an epiphany that they were saying these things to make me be a better student. I now use what others say and use it to find ways to benefit myself and my work.
Yes! Epiphanies are great subjects for education narratives!
Getting feedback from others on your writing, whether from your instructor, your classmates, the Writing Center or a tutor, or even friends and family, is such an important part of the writing process. But of course it’s also hard to listen if someone is telling you what you haven’t done well. It’s great that you can now see that criticism as an opportunity and a path forward.