Looking at my transcript from college, there are a considerable number of English classes listed.  Aside from the core requisites, though, I gladly skipped over the courses on syntax, direct objects and dangling participles.  I gave the two fingers to the Classics, the Romantics, and their ilk (if I never read the Brönte Sisters, I think I’ll be okay).  Creative writing and poetry classes, tucked atop the high floors of Tucker Hall: that’s where I was. That’s where I wanted to be.

I had task masters for professors — Dr. Braxton, Nancy Schoenberger, Professor Cowan — who demanded that I turn myself inside out and upside down to suss out the marrow of words I had to say.  Anything less than that wasn’t worth reading.  

Despite my buckling under the pressure of another professor to take a W when my future in biology looked bleak, I did not dip my chin when Professor Braxton told me that I needed a refund from my high school because I “simply had no analytical skills” when it came to the type of writing she insisted I produce.  Writing was something I could do, something I had been doing for the better part of my educational career.  I loved it. I love it still.  It sustained me then as it does now. I would not let her take it from me. So I showed her what I was capable of and went on to write my ass off for that class. 

I got her respect.

And I got an A.

I still write, though hardly as prolifically as I once did or as I would like.  Part of me feels like I can’t ease back into it.  I’ve got my toes gripping the edge of that cliff of familiarity, a churning pool of “What if?” frothing below.   I’ve got to pick up my old habits – toting around journals that crumble from overuse, writing on napkins, receipts, the palms of my hands, maybe even the children. 

And speaking of the children, I’d be remiss if I didn’t brag a tad on my dear, sweet Morgan who received the 2010-2011 Writing Achievement Award at school for showing a real passion for writing this school year and for having made excellent progress.  

I could definitely take a lesson from her.