Above anything else, I adore writing. I have been producing short stories since middle school, and I experience so much joy seeing ideas seamlessly transferred from the mind to the page. I published a couple of pieces in high school and knew that I wanted to keep that love of writing alive during college while challenging myself in ways that could help me feel more confident about my work. I have been able to accomplish this at Swarthmore through a variety of means.
During my freshman year, I joined “The First Page” Creative Writing Club: a Tri-Co (Swarthmore, Bryn-Mawr, and Haverford) club founded with the intention of allowing those individuals interested in writing a supportive environment to do so. Every Thursday afternoon, I would find my way to the McCabe Color Room for our meetings where, after warm-ups and announcements, we would be given ~40 minutes to write something based on a particular prompt before forming a writer’s circle to share and discuss our pieces. Finding motivation to write was something that I had always struggled with, so having a dedicated space to work alongside my peers alleviated much of that hesitation. I became the club’s Vice President after my first semester and began to aid in preparation for different events to connect writers from across the Tri-Co. We would invite writers to campus and plan meetings at different cafes in Philadelphia with the Bryn Mawr chapter to have conversations about literature and the writing process: allowing me to learn and grow from the mentorship of so many incredible individuals.
Additionally, during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I was employed as an intern for Swarthmore’s Admissions Department. One of the primary responsibilities for that position (which I have continued into the school year, as one can observe) was writing blogs for Swat Stories: one new piece once a week, grounded in my experience as a student. Through this, I learned more about the art of drawing from reality in my pieces: dictating my day-to-day life in a way that was entertaining and informative.
The greatest progression in my writing came through the execution of my academic writings. During my second semester, I took five courses–three of which were writing-intensive: Narcissus, an English writing course, Antisemitism: Theory & Politics, a History course, and Introduction to International Relations, a Political Science course. Intro to IR emphasized the importance of drawing from a number of different, reliable sources when writing. Our first essay had a ten scholarly sources minimum, and the second had a minimum of fifteen. High school acclimated me to building arguments on two to three reliable sources, so this new requirement forced me to look more deeply into different issues: finding new and exciting ways to build my arguments. Narcissus gave me greater insight into establishing my points by forcing me to present theses that were less “obvious” in nature. Finally, Antisemitism allowed me to create works that effectively blended theory and history in a new way: allowed me to produce pieces that I have since been revising for eventual publication in the Tri-Co Law Review and the Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal. While this process has been a personal endeavor, interestingly, another course I am taking this semester, The History of the Black Body, has a process outlined for the creation of a primary document analysis that, likewise, could be published in the History Journal or Prisms, another undergraduate history journal.
This semester, I have also been focusing on being more deliberate about acknowledging a particular audience through writing. I am registered for the linguistics course, Children’s Fiction Books: How to Deliver Information. The course is structured around forming writing circles, writing three-page short stories every week, then listening to peer feedback to figure out how to improve for next time. These discussions have allowed me to become more conscious of the necessary consistency in language that comes with writing, along with how to present complex themes to younger audiences.
Swarthmore has presented me with ample opportunities to better myself as a writer, as an intellectual, and as a storyteller. As I continue my academic journey, I do not doubt that my writing skills will continue to improve and evolve into pieces that I will grow more and more proud of. Here’s to countless new projects, publications, and works in the future!!
