First Term Seminar Blogging

For three years, I’ve assigned weekly blog posts as a means of writing often, reflecting on the class and on the first semester experience, and as practice with invention. When the semester is over, I clean out the posts, which are not polished writing and are not meant as undying prose. I have kept a couple of examples for future students, but otherwise, this blog is dormant until I teach the course again.

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Ewing’s Sarcoma – Say, what does that mean?

Gray clouds drifted in the sky that day; leftover snow and ice crusted the ground, frost covered the grass. As all the other fourth graders exploded out of the building that November day, she stayed still. She looked up at the still sky above, and simply asked God why? The anger, fear, pain and confusion consumed her. Tears welled in her eyes, bubbled over, and ran down her face. She took off her backpack and knelt. Taking out the scissors she grabbed a fist-full of hair and began to chop. Lock after lock of her golden brown hair fell to the frost covered ground. Searing pain shot through her, to her skull and in her heart, yet the sensation was almost soothing. She no longer needed her hair; she would no longer have her brunet features in the months to come anyway. What does Ewing’s Sarcoma mean anyway? What does malignant mean to a ten year old? Nothing except, I don’t need my hair.  She stands, lifts her backpack, and moves on, her worn sneakers scuffing the pavement. Explosive pain follows her, and many trials loom before her, but new found strength goes with her… with the loss of her hair. She must live.

 

The Laundry Fairy is Real

I’ve never really been a blogger, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. right? I don’t really know what to talk about on my first post, so I’m going to tell you a REALLY good story. I woke up this morning to do my laundry.(I had a lot). I went down with a friend and put my laundry in the washer. I came back up to my room and did some of my french homework which took about an hour. Then I went back down to move my clothes into the dryer. After everything was in the dryer, I figured I had enough time to go workout. I went and played basketball at Lund for about an hour. When I came back to get my clothes out of the dryer, I saw them on top of the dryer all folded. My socks were even paired! Basically, I’m trying to tell you that the Laundry Fairy truly does exist!