The first piece of writing that I remember making for school was a Cinderella poem. I don’t remember what started the project, why we had to write them, or what caused me to think of that subject, but I remember it was the best poem ever. I thought I was going to win awards, money, become famous for this piece. I idolized that poem and it drew me to more prompts and more ideas to write about. It drew me to other writers, literary cannon pieces when I didn’t know what literary cannon was. I became a writer and a reader because of that poem assignment. Then in high school, close to graduation, I received my old portfolio that contained pieces of my writing that I chose to keep from every grade. I remembered my Cinderella poem and I went straight to reread my old masterpiece. But unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my old expectations and memories. It was just bad writing. But writing that poem allowed me to write short stories, poems, and essays that I could be proud of and love. It made me a better editor, it drove me to create my own style of writing, it made me a writer.

Besides this poem, my creative writing teacher had the greatest effect on me as a student, as a writer, and as a lover of reading. Every day at the beginning of class she would do our free write activity with us, sitting in a small desk, scribbling in her writer’s notebook. She was always willing to share her pieces, she was never afraid to let us know her own creative thoughts, lines that she was proud of, and ideas for not only us to use in future writing, but ideas she wanted for herself. Her assignments turned into my most personal pieces: short stories that I have continued for years, poems that I was proud enough to share online, writing strategies or structures that I still use today. Her devotion to me as a writer became evident my senior year, the same year I reread my Cinderella masterpiece. She received an old typewriter from another teacher, and we talked about buying the ribbon of ink to make it work. She allowed me into her classroom first period, when she was across the school for hall duty. I would listen to my little iPod, write new pieces on the typewriter, or type up old pieces I had been working on alone in her room. When I graduated, she let me keep that typewriter. I think it became mine mostly because I was the only one working on it and that I had bought the supplies for it, but I knew she wanted me to have it so I could continue to write. My Cinderella poem showed me that I could be a writer, while my teacher proved to me that I could be proud of my work. She showed me the worth of writing.

My creative writing experiences have influenced me to be a reader, a writer, and a future teacher. I want to encourage students to find who they are as writers and/or readers, to find their own styles, to create pieces that make them proud. I hope to do this with by having my students make their own writers’ portfolios so they can collect the pieces of writing that they were most proud of, had the most fun with writing them, or valued them more than other assignments. I want to give prompts or assignments that students can curate to be the most beneficial or fun for them, I want them to have the freedom to make any writing assignment something they will enjoy. I want to make my classroom a place where students become writers. I believe in the value of creative writing, I believe in choice and making students proud of their work, I believe that I will turn all of my hopes and wants for my classroom into realities for my future students.