ME AS A WRITER

   I have loved to write ever since I could firmly grasp a pen. I used to write stories when I was in elementary school.  You can click here (to see the words better, click full screen) or scroll to the bottom of the page to see one of my stories titled "Ashlyn's Adventure" that I wrote when I was in Kindergarten.  As I grew older, I began to write poems and even more complex stories.  There are pictures of other stories I wrote in elementary school below.  All of my friends would call me crazy because I did not complain when we had to write papers for class.  Every once in a while, there was a paper I just could not get excited about, but I always preferred them to tests.  Although I still do not believe I have perfected the art of writing, I did improve my skills while I was in my ENG 103 class.

   Writing is a complicated task, but I had already made improvements in the first half of the semester.  I learned how to write in other forms than the traditional words on a paper.  The visual literacy narrative really helped me to understand the many different ways of writing.  Instead of writing a paper, I made a video and wrote a song.  Before, I always thought writing songs and making videos were fun, but I never thought I would be allowed to do them for an essay in school.  I remember Professor Williams saying we should use the narrative as a reference when we are writing our other papers and I got so excited.  This class was going to be so much fun, because for the first time in an English class, I got to write the way I wanted, not how the professor says.  During the second semester i got to do more creative writing.  For my meaning essay I used images and a cover letter.  The review was also very fun, because we got to design our papers how a magazine would do it. 
   I must say, when I was first put in this class, I was definitely not excited to be there.  Last year I took an English class at Manchester and was told by my academic adviser that I should go ahead and sign up for the second level English class here because my credit would transfer as the first level class.  Two and a half weeks into the semester, I received a letter stating I was not allowed to be in the second level class because I had no credit for the first level.  I went to the English department to find out what the problem was.  It turned out that my credit from Manchester transferred as the level 2 credit, not level 1. I was slightly disappointed because I had already signed up and paid for the level 2 class, but I decided I would just drop it and have less hours this semester.  That was not the case; the head of the department told me I still needed to take the level 1 class.  I was so frustrated.  First of all, I was going to have to take an easier class than what I was in and second, I had already turned in papers for my English class and now those grades did not matter.  Lastly, I was going to have to go into a class two and a half weeks late! 
   I had already made up my mind that I was going to hate this class when I walked in the first day.  I walked out after class a little worried about getting caught up, but excited about all of the assignments in the syllabus.  I was also relieved because I was expecting the professor to be frustrated that a student was coming in late and she would have to catch them up, but instead, my professor was completely the opposite.  She was willing to help me outside of class to get caught up if I needed to and if she was frustrated, at least she didn't show it. 
   Turns out, I actually learned how to do things, I had never done before.  The allowance of creativity in an essay was the coolest thing I learned how to do.  I am glad I was put in this class and I am so excited I got to write the papers I did.  I am keeping a copy of every paper I did in this class and my Christmas present to my dad is a digital picture frame with the visual literacy narrative video in it.
   All of the papers I wrote are on this paper and I would love for you to look at them.  If you have any comments or want to share creative ideas you have for writing papers, you can email me at [email protected].

This is an electronic copy of my book Ashlyn's Adventure.

Ashlyn's Adventure
to Chelsea
Ashlyn's Adventure By Kassondra Musick
There was a little girl named Ashlyn.
She found treasure chest.  It was in the water.
She went in the water and opened it.
Ashlyn found jewelry and a crown in the treasure chest.
She put on the crown and became a princess.
She came out of the water and found snow.  Ashlyn walked in the snow to a castle.
Ashlyn went in.
The prince kissed.  They got married inside the castle.
They lived happily ever after
(picture of Chelsea and Kassi)
The end
(the princess)