Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Wide Eyes and Dropped Chins
"What is the circumference of this circle?" Mrs. Ryan asked a fairly simple math question, but as seconds rolled by she was met with only blank stares from my classmates. I wondered why no one jumped to answer a question that only required the use of simple arithmetic. Nonetheless, I also remained silent. I sat, twiddling my thumbs in an effort to suppress the urge to reveal the answer as if it were locked up in a safe to which only I had the key, but my anxiety grew as the silence became increasingly unbearable. The answer had to be revealed! I could no longer hold it in, and I finally exclaimed, "Two pie!"
At once, the entire class turned to face me with wide eyes and dropped chins, and one student uttered the words, "She spoke."
Six years later, I smile as I recall this once humiliating incident. Little did anyone know that speaking, through the form of spoken word poetry, would become one of my greatest interests. I was first introduced to this type of poetry through an English class assignment in which I wrote and performed a poem for my classmates. My performance was a success. However, the success of my first poem came not from my skill as a poet, but from what was sparked by the experience itself.
The positive feedback I received from my class performance empowered me to feel free to express myself. However, this freedom was not free. The cost was stepping outside of my comfort zone. In my first poem, I spoke about my differences, sharing what I would not have otherwise been given the opportunity to share publicly, and the applause that followed encouraged me to want to continue speaking about similar topics. In this special way of articulating my thoughts, I am gifted with the ability to bring to life every emotion I feel, without shame for feeling the way I feel. Much like the music I create with a violin in my hands, the poetry created with my words and mouth has a meditative quality. In it, I find comfort in expressing myself.
Even better than knowing that I have the freedom to speak is knowing that people are also willing to listen. I was pleasantly surprised when one of my classmates came up to me after my performance to tell me that my poem was inspiring. Her receptiveness to my poem showed me that even though she could not relate to the differences I spoke about, she could relate to the way I was confident in those differences. The smile that became frozen on my face after my first performance came from realizing that I could impact others through the words that I spoke. By not being afraid to get my voice out there, I could impact people both inside and outside of my classroom.
In the course of attending local open mic poetry nights, I have opened myself to new ideas, while also reacquainting myself with familiar ones spoken in a new light by poets of different cultures and backgrounds. The information transmitted through an eclectic array of poets is hard to find anywhere else, and I am eager to both learn from and contribute to the diverse teachings. I feel at one with my community when I hear their stories, relate, and can tell my own.
As my voice is strengthened through poetry, I can use this power to not only speak poetically but to also speak confidently in everyday life. Poetry has replaced my fear with a love for speaking. Now when I speak through poetry, I actually want people to react the way my sixth grade classmates once did: with wide eyes and dropped chins, only now not because of the act of speaking, but instead because of the content spoken.
Wide Eyes and Dropped Chins
"What is the circumference of this circle?" Mrs. Ryan asked a fairly simple math question, but as seconds rolled by she was met with only blank stares from my classmates. I wondered why no one jumped to answer a question that only required the use of simple arithmetic. Nonetheless, I also remained silent. I sat, twiddling my thumbs in an effort to suppress the urge to reveal the answer as if it were locked up in a safe to which only I had the key, but my anxiety grew as the silence became increasingly unbearable. The answer had to be revealed! I could no longer hold it in, and I finally exclaimed, "Two pie!"
At once, the entire class turned to face me with wide eyes and dropped chins, and one student uttered the words, "She spoke."
Six years later, I smile as I recall this once humiliating incident. Little did anyone know that speaking, through the form of spoken word poetry, would become one of my greatest interests. I was first introduced to this type of poetry through an English class assignment in which I wrote and performed a poem for my classmates. My performance was a success. However, the success of my first poem came not from my skill as a poet, but from what was sparked by the experience itself.
The positive feedback I received from my class performance empowered me to feel free to express myself. However, this freedom was not free. The cost was stepping outside of my comfort zone. In my first poem, I spoke about my differences, sharing what I would not have otherwise been given the opportunity to share publicly, and the applause that followed encouraged me to want to continue speaking about similar topics. In this special way of articulating my thoughts, I am gifted with the ability to bring to life every emotion I feel, without shame for feeling the way I feel. Much like the music I create with a violin in my hands, the poetry created with my words and mouth has a meditative quality. In it, I find comfort in expressing myself.
Even better than knowing that I have the freedom to speak is knowing that people are also willing to listen. I was pleasantly surprised when one of my classmates came up to me after my performance to tell me that my poem was inspiring. Her receptiveness to my poem showed me that even though she could not relate to the differences I spoke about, she could relate to the way I was confident in those differences. The smile that became frozen on my face after my first performance came from realizing that I could impact others through the words that I spoke. By not being afraid to get my voice out there, I could impact people both inside and outside of my classroom.
In the course of attending local open mic poetry nights, I have opened myself to new ideas, while also reacquainting myself with familiar ones spoken in a new light by poets of different cultures and backgrounds. The information transmitted through an eclectic array of poets is hard to find anywhere else, and I am eager to both learn from and contribute to the diverse teachings. I feel at one with my community when I hear their stories, relate, and can tell my own.
As my voice is strengthened through poetry, I can use this power to not only speak poetically but to also speak confidently in everyday life. Poetry has replaced my fear with a love for speaking. Now when I speak through poetry, I actually want people to react the way my sixth grade classmates once did: with wide eyes and dropped chins, only now not because of the act of speaking, but instead because of the content spoken.
