Dear Portfolio Readers,
As I reflect on my history as a writer, I am filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. In high school, I can proudly say that I spent three long semesters in Honors English. I was given the opportunity to join the Advanced Placement level, but felt that it was in my best interest to stay in the Honors level. It is not that I was intimidated by the workload, but an overwhelming concern that I would lose my interest and fondness of writing by drowning in what seemed to be a never ending sea of papers. Although I do take a lot of pride in my papers, I usually only write when it is required of me and the occasional blog on social media. For whatever reason, I find it much easier to discuss certain topics and jot down my thoughts and opinions on them than to tell you about myself. There are many instances, such as now, that I experience extreme writer’s block and find myself gazing at my computer screen anywhere from five to fifteen minutes before I can form a coherent thought about myself. I do however think of myself as a strong writer. I believe that this class has allowed me to reach within myself and write about what interests me while leaving a piece of myself with each assignment. My self exploration began with my very first essay, a memoir assignment.
Upon first glance, the memoir assignment initially intimidated me. Based on my prior work, many would believe that it is easy for me to take a topic and just run away leaving a path of details behind, and for the most part, it is. However, when writing about myself, I experience extreme writer’s block. With this particular essay, I remember spending anywhere from four to five hours writing until I had forgotten any other aspect about myself other than the trip I discussed. I was asked to write about curiosity, so I discussed the questions I had regarding life and the curiosity within myself. When all was said and done, I felt that I left my emotions on the paper. As if it were more of a journal entry than a classroom assignment. This assignment left such an impression on me, that I carried a piece of it with me to my second assignment.
Much like my first essay, essay two was about curiosity within ourselves, but with a delightful twist. With a lingering sense of pride from essay one, I decided to take a piece of it with me to my next assignment. In essay two, I wrote about how curiosity sets us apart from others while bringing us closer to one another all at once. Without our knowledge, curiosity has implanted itself in our everyday lives and has carved out the little details of our being. Unfortunately, I cannot go into great detail without giving away my key points and I would just simply prefer you to all go into this essay with fresh eyes and to be surprised by what you will read next, as if it were a mystery novel I suppose.
In my fourth and final essay, I chose to write about the hot topic of welfare reform. What first initially peaked my interest in writing about welfare reform was an article I came across on social media. As I began reading, I learned about a woman that was living off of government assistance for thirteen years in Kent, England and was asking taxpayers for a grand request, to fund her dream wedding. Working two jobs and going to school full time, this article initially dug right under my skin. I was curious as to why someone who obviously did not understand the purpose of welfare was still receiving assistance. Now, I know that I am not a big public figure and all, but I believe I made some solid suggestions and points in how we can try to improve how we run the welfare system and make an overall difference for the better! I hope that you enjoy reading this article as much as I enjoyed sifting through essay upon essay to write it for you!
In closing, I am overall very satisfied with how far my writing has come from the beginning of this semester and I believe my self growth is expressed in my writing. Enjoy!
With Great Sincerity,
Marissa Nicole Scimone