When I came into College, I had tested out of both of the Intro Comp.
classes. My first class in College that required a paper was an Old English
Literature Class. I had to write papers analyzing different aspects of really
old literature, like Geoffrey Chaucer and Beowulf. I remember being really
intimidated by my first paper. It wasn't that my professor was asking me to do
anything that I had never done before, but it was just the idea that this was a
College paper that freaked me out. I think I probably spent more time on that
paper than I had ever spent on any High School paper, but I think I got an A-,
so I guess it paid off. Getting that first grade back gave me a lot of
confidence in my abilities as a writer.
Throes of Creation by Leonid Pasternak, Source: Wikipedia
As difficult as that first class was, it was definitely not the most
challenging class that I have taken at OU. Just last year, I took a class
called Law and Justice. It was about the development of the ideals of law and
justice from their earliest roots in Aristotle to their modern interpretations
by John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. I thought this class was right in my
wheel-house, but the professor really challenged me. I knew him before the
class, so he really pushed me and never let me settle. He would find flaws in
my arguments that never would have occurred to me. It really frustrated me at
the time, but I think he really helped me to develop as a writer. I owe a lot
of the development of my style and voice to him, because he didn't let me be
satisfied with where I was. At the end of the day, I think that people improve
their writing when they have teachers that care and teachers that challenge
them. This can happen in High School or College. Teachers who care about
helping their students become better writers are the teachers who see their
students become better writers.
