HELLO...

Says an excited but over-anxious English major. My passion has always been writing—the ability to write things you’re voice won’t allow you to say. How did passion for writing manifest itself into my soul? Well unfortunately, I am the quiet, anxiety-worrier, but when I write, I’m a loud, in your face, feel my pain…not his or her…but mine, kind of person. As the middle child, I liked to spent most of time reading, pretending I was a vampire, and doing a hobby I like to call...BOTTLING UP EMOTIONS, I was always an over-sensitive person and the fact that I was a pound or twenty above average didn’t help my case. My sisters and brothers were evil tormentors and my own self-esteem despised me.

In seventh grade, My English teacher, Mrs. Schmidt hated my poetry. I recall her pulling me to the side and explaining in a nice sweet voice "your poetry sucks"...well maybe she didn't say that exactly. "Where's the emotion?" She asked me. I explain to her my hobby of bottling and storing for later(no, i really didn't). She said"You can't keep everything inside. Let it out...you have so much to say."

So that night i went home and opened lids to bottles i have had inside for years. I cried (onto the page), release everything, every emotion. It felt so good...that it became my way of expressing myself. I love writing non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. I couldn't see myself doing anything else with my life. well, maybe i could, but writing is what makes me happy. I don't know what I will do with writing yet, but i'm sure my ability to write will come in handy with whatever.

I was born in Atlanta, Georgia but spent my childhood in a suburban area called Guilderland NY. My house is surrounded by old white people who don't have anything better to do but pay attention to make my family (the only black family on the block), kids who give us nicknames (mine was Mardog) and ofcourse neighbors who didn't like us. Being the only black kid in class was hard, especially when everyone expected you to act a certain way. It makes me who I am, tho.

My hobbies/Interest include: Listening to music...I like any kind of music that fits with my mood. Well, I'm not a big country music fan, but i like some. Shot put and Discus...which was something I used to love to do, but I find myself without the time and effort it takes to do it here at slu. Reading...my favorite author is and will always be James Patterson. He is not a poet, but an amazing writer who has inspired me to write novels about psychopathic killers and the brave /heroic detectives who go out to stop them. Learning Japanese and Anime: ok..so I'm not exactly an anime nerd, but I do enjoy it more than I should. I have learned some japanese, but I give it up this semester, because I do not have time to do it and all my other courses. I still plan to learn more, just gotta find the time. I enjoy dancing, hanging out with friends, going to parties (when my anxiety isn't present) and ofcourse spending time with my family.

Maya Angelou is a poet I liked, but not in influence or maybe I just don't consider her as an influence. I like her poetry because its really deep and emotion. I like reading all kinds of poems and i think most poets I've read have had really awesome poems. I don't really consider influences the way i probably should. I think any poem that express emotions in a new/exciting way as good poem. Bad poems to me don't really exist to me. There are just poems that could use more work. I try to avoid rhyming poems and poems that I don't really enjoy reading myself.

With all my writing so far, I have gotten positive feedback on my work. I used to hate sharing my work with others, because I was too afraid they wouldn't enjoy it. After a while, because i was afraid to share my own writing style, i changed my writing style to fit what other people normally writing about/ how they write and found myself miserable. Writing was always something I enjoyed and giving myself limits really made me not what to write. When I grew enough courage to not care what people thought about my writing was when i wrote things I loved. I have always gotten back good feedback and good/positive suggestions that helped my voice sound stronger and my structure more stable.

I'm in this poetry course to improve my poems through the process of workshopping. I think having people look at your poems help you sort things out and make any corrections if there are any to be made. I took this course because I enjoy writing poetry and I enjoy people being able to read (in a way) who i am. I want to be able to write amazing poem and just amazing writing without needing revisions (even though there can always be a revision). =]