Me...A Writer?

     I have thought of myself as a writer since a snowy day in my high school sophomore English class and had my first real writing experience.  I looked out the window and wrote a ten line poem on snow.  The traditional style teacher, Mrs. Gummersall, lauded my effort in front of the class which embarrassed me thoroughly at the time, but became a catalyst for self-expression through poetry.  I have reread my poetry from that time and I laugh at how angry and vitriolic to which my writing evolved by my senior (strangely coinciding with the advent of grunge.)
      From my early days of writing poetry to now, where I have branched out into creative non-fiction writing, I relish expressing my emotions through an intricate balance of metaphor, sentence structure, and verbiage.  My foray into creative non-fiction writing began during the summer when I took an accelerated course focusing on the genre.  Each paper I wrote spilled onto the paper as I dug up memories buried and forgotten.  I trudged up old hurts and heartbreaks dusting them off for public fodder while I feverishly allowed sincere emotions to fill the pages.
      In an odd way, my least favorite writing assignments – the dreaded literary analysis – created and honed my writing skills more than any other genre could.  I had to be clear.   I had to be exacting and efficient in word usage.  I despised each paragraph and still cringe when I know I must push out one of these monsters.  Still, the challenge created an honest tinge to my writing that would not have existed without that tortuous exercise.  It helped chisel my voice and my style.
      What will this do for me teaching English?  I will not be afraid to set up challenging writing assignments for my students.  I will come from a very honest place when I tell them how each assignment can hone their writing skills for whatever profession or trade they decide to pursue.