“In my end is my beginning.” –T.S. Eliot
Goodness, how time has flown, no? It’s the ever clichéd, “it seemed like just yesterday” comment that always stands true. Seriously, how much time has gone by and with so little thought to it? The course in itself, if I’m being honest, wasn’t too difficult. I’ve never really struggled with English, though if you’d put me in a Science class of some sort, I’d be crying at the moment from stress. However, even if I wasn’t too stressed out about the class, the lessons I’ve learned and the people I’ve met I won’t ever forget. It appears extremely nostalgic and a little “junior high graduation”; the feeling I have as I type this out. This could, of course, be because I’m graduating from AVC on Friday, but that’s all semantics, right?
I’ve been privileged enough to know Jennifer Gross for almost three years. She’s taught me and mentored me. We’ve laughed together and cried together and grown together. She is simply an astounding woman and I’m a better person for knowing her. She’s taught me a great deal, not only about literature and English, but about who I am. Who I am as a writer and as a person. I’ve learned not to be too certain of myself, but to never doubt my qualities, either. I owe a great deal to her.
Now, of course, I owe a great deal to the literature we’ve read this semester, too. Animal Farm, as it was, I’ve read several times before (there’s something so precious about politics and talking pigs that gets me every time) and I love The Great Gatsby, but going on Azar Nafisi’s journey with her girls has forever changed me (I’m forcing my best friend to read the book over the summer). As the semester comes to a close and I think back on this class and the journey I’ve taken, I can say honestly that a lot has happened to me. And, I can say with utmost honesty and pride that, like Nafisi, I’ve got through it because of literature. What’s more, I’ve pulled through because of writing as well. I’ve learned that my penned thoughts don’t always have to be liked.
It still kills me, be aware, but I’ve realized it.
I’ve learned that to write is to be (well, if you’re me, anyway). I’ve learned that the people you thought knew you sometimes don’t and the people whom others deem as “wrong” are really the best people you know. I’ve learned this through my walk with Nafisi and the other novels we’ve been given to read. I’ve changed and adapted to my surroundings and in a funny way, I can say that I myself have been reinvented through writing and literature. It’s always a wonderful thing when one goes into something one way and transforms into something completely different by its mark end. I can say I’m a stronger writer and it’s because I took this class that I can say that. I plan on keeping up with jumping into other worlds until I just can’t anymore and every tale I read I shall mark down with ink to tell the world about; these journeys I’ve embarked upon. It’s a wonderful thing to be a reader.
Yes what a ride it has been. There may have been moments when this train, we call life, almost raced off the tracks but we made it here. And at the end of it all we can say, "Wow that was a lot, wasn't it?" At times it was like drawing blood and other times it was a pinprick beyond our consciousness but in either case a lesson was learned. That is what this class has been for me one lesson after another, and another, and another, and... you get the idea. But it feels good to know we did it, we stuck it out, and we lived to talk about it. We are still here but for many of us this is no beginning, nor is it an end. It will be just another wave on the ocean, we will go on to bigger and better things. And we can look back at this and realize these are the moments we will cherish for years to come. I absolutely enjoyed reading your posts Melissa and since you said you would continue to write even after this class is over I look forward to your new responses because it was always interesting to hear your take on the matter. There were plenty others like this but yours was unique in its own right and I kept peering down the rabbit hole because as things got "curiouser and curiouser" I couldn't help myself.
ReplyDeleteHow crazy it is that this semester is over all ready! I really do feel like this class went by so quickly, it is absolutely crazy how fast it went. I literally remember creating my blog and picking my blog name. I am so relived though that it is all over and that we are finally done. I can breathe again and not have to worry if I am going to miss a deadline for a blog response ever again. This is also my last semester and I cannot believe that I will never come back to AVC again, well I hope so anyways. Congratulations on graduating though Melissa and I hope wherever you are going after this is a great college and that you have fun times. To spend so long at one place makes it difficult to really understand that you’re leaving. Of course I am so super happy to be leaving AVC finally and I am so excited to be going to Northridge this fall, it is still weird to think about never attending AVC. This class really did all teach us something about ourselves and hopefully everyone in this class got something out of it. I know I did for sure.
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