DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Peter Cocchia

1/28/09

WR101B: Introduction to College Writing

Freewriting Homework

 

 

            One might say that High School is an abomination to the world of education, given that it practically promotes cheating, peer pressure, and identity issues. The average American teenager might find himself or herself struggling to conform to the normative American teenage stereotype or to attain the best grades possible. Others breeze through High School as if it were as simply handed to them on a silver platter. I do believe that High School is a difficult experience for everyone, no matter their gender and/or sexual identity, racial or ethnic background, or other defining characteristics; however, I also believe that High School is necessary because it gives everyone the opportunity for personal growth. In High School I was able to mature, discover my passions, and learn how to make long-lasting connections with people I wouldn’t have otherwise met. High School can be a detriment to the learning experience in some respects, in others, beneficial. In High School I learned how to work harmoniously with my peers to create music, in a Chamber Singers a capella group that I became part of my sophomore year and remained a part of until graduation. I also collaborated with my peers to put on musical and straight play productions, a part of my High School experience that allowed me to be myself and to be with others who were just like me. Lastly, I was part of the school newspaper, an organization that allowed me to grow intellectually and establish myself as an editorial writer, among other genres of writing.

            Writing has always been a strong passion of mine, since the time I was nine or ten years old. In High School, I was given the opportunity to write feature articles for the school newspaper, The Weston High School Journal. By junior year’s end I had been dubbed my school’s fashion editorial writer. Allow me tell you a story. Living in a cold, dry Northeastern town such as Weston, CT made it so that everyone in my high school felt the sick compulsion to wear Ugg boots at nauseam. My dorky theatre friends, who also believe that Uggs were a grand fashion mistake, encouraged me to write an article for the school newspaper that spoke the taboo truth of Uggs: that they were, like many believe high school to be, an abomination. My article was put on the front page of the school newspaper and was given surprisingly positive feedback by the student body. I felt that I had relayed an important message to my peers and that my high school friends and environment had given me the opportunity to express myself in ways that I may never have been compelled to express myself without such circumstances.

            You may ask, what do Ugg boots have to do with the benefits of high school? Well, they don’t really have anything to do with high school per say. The point of the matter is that having written that article and receiving such positive feedback from my peers, not excluding those people who wore Uggs on a regular basis, I felt nurtured by the opportunities given to me by my high school’s writing department. Perhaps the monotonous curriculum of high school English classes, even those honors and AP classes I felt obligated to take, can be viewed as a detriment to the ideal learning experience. (An experience that allows students to express their own ideas rather than regurgitate the ideas of their superiors.) I do, however, believe that in order for one to benefit from a high school learning environment, one must take the initiative to learn outside of the classroom. Without taking such initiative, one will be restricted to learning what everyone else in their high school is learning, thus not allowing them to gender a personal identity and/or passion. 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.