I have always accredited my high school English experience with my success in college, as well as my desire to write outside the classroom walls. I have often heard people say that some simply have the talent to write while others do not. I have heard this excuse used by many students who do not succeed in an academic environment. However, I believe this to be untrue. Writing is something that must develop from practice. Being in a writing classroom in high school made all the difference in the world for my future in college and beyond.
Most of us know that in college, a student is expected to be able to produce academic essays and papers in all subjects, not just English. College students are expected to be able to form intelligent thoughts about a subject, not simply answer multiple choice questions. I wholeheartedly believe that my writing classroom in high school prepared me for this challenge.
Beyond the academic advantages of a writing classroom, there have been many personal advantages as well. Learning to write well provides an opportunity to express one's ideas, opinions and aspirations. I believe it was my experience in a writing classroom that taught me to express myself. As a painfully shy teenager, writing was a way for me to communicate a part of myself that would have remained hidden otherwise. Learning to write helped me to find my voice in the world. When I was too shy to speak, I could pick up a pen and the thoughts would flow, thoughts I never even knew I had until I learned to write.
If I had never been taught to write, I do not think I would be the person I am today. Because of the confidence writing built within me, I have had the courage to finish a degree in Communication at the school I always dreamed of attending. I have traveled the world, teaching English as a Second Language. As an ESL teacher in China, I had many students who aspired to attend college in the United States or England. The first thing I would tell them was, "You must be a good writer if you want to do this." I challenged my students to write in class, because I knew that this was a skill they would never regret. My students became very enthusiastic about creative writing, and I read some of the most creative stories as a result. Students that had never uttered a word in class would turn in stories that could rival any in my Fiction Writing class at the College of Charleston. I knew, from experience, that writing would open up a new world for these students, a world where their voices could be heard.
It saddens me greatly that the writing programs in America are being cut. I cannot think of a more essential program for high schools. We can learn facts, and we can learn how to calculate infinite equations, but without the ability to express ideas, we are simply robots. The quality of education in our country will suffer greatly from this change. We talk about how the upcoming generations are glued to their cell phones and cannot function without touch-screens and 4G networks. I had a friend teaching at her local community college who had a paper turned into her written entirely in text message shorthand. All I could think was, "How pathetic". This will be the direction of our country if something is not done to champion writing education.
Mary Beth Willis
Tupelo High School, Class of 2002
