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It wasn't until college when I realized my love for poetry. All my life pople have been teaching me words and the "correct" way of writing. In some way, one may say that college gives you the freedom to expess your voice.
I remember my freshman year of high school--filled with new people, overwhelming halls as the smell of burnt oil overtook the school. Edgar Allen Poe was on the agenda that first day in my english class. I remember reading "The Raven" and thinking to myself how boring it was. The teacher seemed uninterested as she read "nevermore" wih a sigh of standarized sickness. This was my high school poetry experience. Standard and sick. No wonder I wanted to stay home. But, being the good student that I am, and was--I went. I endured the pain and conformed to the lesson plans.
When I got to college and took my first creative writing course I was introduced to the freedom and excitement that poetry and prose has to offer. I thought of how amazing my high school experience would have been if this method were implicated throughout my tenure. Freedom rather than restraint. Imagination was at my center, metephors came naturally as I made my own world. I was the builder of my own universe! My skies could be purple, red, even black--if i wanted them to be. I was an innovator. No longer did I care about standards, or knowing where to put the periods, I was liberated from all of that. I was my own maker--as crazy as that may sound I found my voice.
David Hassler gives this freedom to our youth. He, in a sense liberates the kids from standards--praising and admiring their imagination at an early age. Through this, the kids find their souls...better yet, find their voice. As I stood in front of my 3rd grade class I told them to imagine this giant world inside of them--any world they want. Their wonderful teacher smiled as we heard a big "whooaahhh" coming from them. Some skies were "red like jelly from the sun doughnut" and some skies were black like the rubber sole of the tennis shoe, constantly moving, stretching and forming as they began to realize the freedom, magnitude and excitement writing has to offer.
With the cooperation of these amazing teachers and students--through our shared love of writing and art. The Wick Poetry Center, David, and my classmates are changing the world by giving the gift of voice. I am proud to be a part of this program and proud to contribute to the positive growth and the life of my students.
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