Why I Write
I grew up being quadrilingual. I remember when I was younger, my parents told me that I was to go to primary school to learn English but at home, I had to speak Mandarin, Cantonese or Hakka. My mom reads, speaks and writes in English very conversationally. My dad, to this day, does not read, speak or write in English. Due to the language barrier, my parents often directed my attention to my STEM classes rather than my humanities classes. My mom was able to help me with my AP Physics homework in high school but when it came to an essay for my AP English Language class, she would bail. Up until my freshman year of college, I hated the idea of writing not only because I lacked a support system but also because I just felt like my writing skills were not as sharpened as the rest of my peers.
This is the story of why I write. I won’t lie to you and say that I’ve always been a writer. I have only recently discovered my passion for writing.
During my freshman year at the University of Michigan, I took Honors 241. This class was a highly philosophical class based off of the HBO show Westworld. Every two weeks, we were expected to write a mini essay connecting that week’s readings to Westworld. I found these assignments quite challenging so it wasn’t long until I discovered the staff at the Sweetland Writing Center at North Quad and took advantage of the writing workshops that were offered by them. I met with a Sweetland consultant, T, once a week in order to work on these mini-essays. I produced beautifully written pieces that I never fathomed that I would ever be able to write. I did well on these essays which gave me a lot of hope. I believe that this hope was deeply rooted from the support system at the Sweetland Writing Center that I had and still have.
After taking my upper level writing course requirement during my sophomore year, I found myself in a dilemma. I wanted to continue writing but I felt like I needed to justify the decision of taking more writing classes at the expense of an out-of-state tuition payer. This inspired me to apply for the writing minor. I love that this minor is so diverse and allowed me to fit in even with my STEM background. I technically had a head start in the minor since I took a few writing classes prior to officially applying for the minor. It wasn’t until the gateway course with Shelley that I discovered that the only reason that I should be writing is for myself. I am incredibly thankful for both T and Shelley for being two of the biggest figures in the start of my writing career. Big thanks to Ray as well for being the biggest figure in the final hoorah of my undergraduate writing career. Although I am just getting started, I hope that I continue to enjoy writing leisurely beyond my academic career at Michigan.