August 20, 2003
Summer Update to Schoenhoff
Schoenhoff sent me an e-mail about a week ago asking me about how I feel about my senior year and the book The Awakening, which I had not read at that point. This is the e-mail I wrote back to her, I think it describes where I am right now pretty accurately.
Hey, sorry I did not reply sooner but I have been SO busy.
Thank you so much again for writing the recommendation that got me into Northwestern. I got back from the program on Saturday and it was an amazing experience. The environment was just incredibley supportive and it was nice to be surrounded by a group of people who were not only talented but passionate about writing. I think everyone left that class feeling a little more inspired and it looks like I am going to stay in pretty close contact with several of the people there. One of the people in my class wrote a story that I absolutely love, and I've been sending it off to anyone who wants to read it.
I also wrote what felt like some pretty good material of my own. One of my poems started with a line of "Don't step any closer lest we become incestuous" and it was about the idea of moving a friendship into the realm of a romantic relationship, it got a really strong reception and people enjoyed quoting it at random. The class was a lot of work but I loved the intensity of it all.
Because of that and my taking Speech and summer being generally busy, I am behind on my summer reading, so this week has been and will continue to be pretty intense.
I did read The Awakening, though. I liked the theme of the book and most of the story line, though the ending was kind of disappointing. I must have missed something in the beginning or some place else, because her suicide felt kind of melodramatic. Coming fresh from a workshop environment, I picked up on a couple of stylistic choices that my class had expressed disapproval of, like when she would "show and tell" or just "tell." Her prose is so beautiful, I wish she would have relied on actions and dialogue more to develop character rather than supply character biographies. It was refreshing to read something with such a strong female perspective, however.
I am excited about my senior year, though I am disappointed that my schedule changed from how I built it in the spring (my counselor was at a loss so I put it together myself. I wish he had allowed me to do that every year!). Unfortunately I will not be taking Acrlylic Painting like I hoped; I have been trying to take that class for at least two years, but I have to take it as a sign that it is not meant to be, I suppose. I will just have to continue to paint newspaper to make wrapping paper (a little hobby of mine) as my creative/artistic outlet. I would take up scrap-booking, but I lack the patience.
Otherwise, I think my year will be challenging, but in a good way. Besides taking AP Lit, I'm taking Advanced Editing in Journalism, AP European History (Cave would have killed me if I didn't take it, plus I love history), AP Biology, Latin 2, AP Calc AB, and Poli Rad. Since I have more off periods than I originally anticipated, I am going to try really hard to use the time to do more writing and revising of my writing. Unfortunately my expectations may be a little high, but I am going into the year with that intention.
As to colleges, I am becoming more excited as I am able to put my talents into a better perspective. I recently received information from Pratt College in Brooklynn that looks to have a really fantastic writing program, but I have to talk to one of the friends I made at Northwestern from the area to find out more than the catalogue reveals. Emerson looks good because they have Creative Writing and it is located in Boston so I can get involved in the newspapers there, plus they have an internship program connected with Jay Leno that could be very cool. It looks likely I would get into their Honors program and if so, they would pay half of my tuition. Barnard in NYC looks amazing because they offer an extremely intellectual environment and small class sizes, plus all kinds of amazing advantages that women colleges offer without feeling stifled because they co-register with Columbia, which is located across the street. Syracuse has an amazing Journalism program that has the kind of intensity I want in my college experience, but it does not have the city environment that I really love. Smith is starting to look really good, my RTA at Northwestern goes there and she told me not only do they have the great intellectual environment, but they also have a fantastic internship program. One of the big themes at NW is that Harvard does not appreciate their undergrads and the worst thing a student can do is go to a school because it's a name. I was not inclined to go there anyway, but I appreciated the advice. I will probably apply to OU as a safety school because their journalism program is so strong, but I would really like to go to the East Coast. I am also consider Northwestern, I have to look into their writing programs more, though, but I loved the church they had there and it is nice to know that I would be going someplace with a strong, friendly faith community that I already love.
I will try to keep on looking over the edges of things.
Once the school year has started we will have to go get coffee and I will have to show you what I wrote while I was at Northwestern and some of the stuff that other people wrote. It was amazing how supportive it was over-all, my teacher offered to look at our work once we left the class and she encouraged me to keep on writing and reading and inserting humor into my work. I just wish more people at WKHS could have had such a positive learning experience, unfortunately I do not think the same kind of thing can be cultivated at WKHS because the people self-selecting themselves to go above and beyond creates a community that cannot be created through regular registration, at least not easily.
I can't wait to hear how your summer has been going!
Love,
Mandy