SUPA Top 5

This year has been an unusual one, to say the least. Going into it, I had some doubts whether I would be able to learn anything at all. However, looking back on SUPA Writing in particular, I'm happy to say that I did learn a lot - not just about writing, but about critical thinking in general. In fact, I'm grateful that this class gave me the chance to learn how to hone my thoughts and properly debate during such a topical time in our lives.

One thing that I learned indirectly from taking this course was the benefit of just being able to get my thoughts down in writing. Of course, I knew how to do this beforehand, but it wasn't until this year when I really started to utilize the mediums I had access to as a way to record my thoughts on subjects I cared about. For me, having ADHD means having a lot of jumbled thoughts about topics that I care about all the time. This year, for the first time, I really took the time and effort to organize my thoughts into cohesive pieces, whether they were just in the notes app on my phone or a fully fledged (albeit very late, sorry!) essay to turn in. This was partly due to the fact that I began to embrace writing without the strict limitations of a high school rubric, which made me realize that writing doesn't just have to be formal. We kept this blog, and we wrote with our own styles according to the purpose and audience we chose. It's a very liberating feeling and I do believe that it changed my view of writing from just being another assignment to really being a form of self-expression that I could use.

On a related but separate note, I would say that taking SUPA Writing opened my eyes to just how diverse literature is. Case in point: the college essay. I had a completely wrong idea of what colleges expected from us in those essays. I was still stuck in the high-school argumentative structure: thesis, supporting evidence, analysis, argument, rebuttal, conclusion. No nuance, no individuality, just plugging into a formula that had been beaten into the ground and into our heads throughout high school. If I hadn't been redirected away from this style of writing, there is a good change that I might not have been accepted by many of the schools on my list. Writing that essay as a part of this class allowed me to make it something I am truly proud of and stand by. Moral of this story: prioritize style and individuality over structure and rigidity when it comes to writing, especially when you're talking about yourself.

College Essay: A Hard Pill to Swallow

The next lesson comes from the Op Doc assignment. Exploring society through media and literature was a theme throughout the class, but with the Op Doc being the first major chance for us to do so, it taught me how to look beyond the surface of a piece to really dissect the choices the creator made. We always make jokes about the idea of English teachers agonizing over seemingly-insignificant details in literature in order to find some kind of deeper meaning. However, in many cases - especially in visually-based media - there really is deeper meaning to why something was organized a certain way, or why they chose a certain theme/tone, or why a specific word was used. Of course, analysis is nothing new, but it was refreshing to apply it to a relevant and interesting source instead of a teacher-chosen, boring excerpt of Shakespeare or the like. Furthermore, it gave me the chance to explore some societal topics that I didn't know much about beforehand. I'm still very grateful that I took the time to watch the Op Doc on Native American struggles, because I had no idea what they had to go through in this country before I did. (See my Two Very Different Stories About Being Isolated From The Rest Of Society to read my analysis on the two Op Docs I chose.)

Moving on from analysis to argumentation, this year was one of the most fitting to work on our argumentation skills. With so much racial, political, and social turbulence, being able to hold a level-headed, well thought out debate is becoming increasingly rarer. Our studies on literacy, conversation, and argumentation throughout the year helped to build and reinforce our argumentative skills in our writing. It was also very freeing to learn about the concept of a working thesis. I have always felt limited when I write essays due to the need to have practically my entire outline stated in the last sentence of the first paragraph. After being taught to use confirming and complicating evidence to evolve a thesis throughout a piece, I feel as though my ability to write an effective argumentative essay has suddenly become ten times greater. Following a familiar trend, the concept of a working thesis is a very liberating method of writing argumentatively. Without the limitation of a rigid thesis, I can now expand on my analysis as I go, which fits my writing style much better and leads to a more fleshed out analysis as a result.

Finally, I have to talk about my Artifact Essay. This piece was probably my crowning jewel from this year. It's the piece where I finally got to put into writing many of my thoughts on the topic of Christian homophobia, which has been a personal issue for me, as a Christian, for a long time now. I very much enjoyed the unique approach that I had to take using Hozier's "Take Me to Church" as a way to analyze the issue. It was difficult at first, but it challenged me to think outside the box and ultimately made for a much more satisfying piece. This essay truly contains my heart and soul, and it represents the combination of everything I've learned this year - breaking free from past limitations, embracing the idea of an evolving central thesis, analyzing a piece for deeper meaning in order to comment on a social issue; in a way, it felt like everything I learned this year was preparing me to write this. Of course, it won't cause any lasting change, and it won't be read by many people, but I'm convinced there's value in being able to comprehensively voice my mind on the topic in writing. If you happen to see this, maybe give it a read sometime.

There's a lot more that I could write about this class, and about how incredibly well it went considering and despite the fact that it was during a pandemic. However, I'm happy to leave it at that, with just this as my final thought. I very much enjoyed it and to Ms. Schilly, I hope despite everything you enjoyed having me in class. I owe you so much for your patience and input this year. Thank you so very much and I wish you all the best!!