Can Someone Force Me Back Into My Freshman Creative Writing Course Again?

Forgive me for loathing you at the time, liberal arts! I have learned the error of my ways.

Dr. Payal Aggarwal
New Writers Welcome

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Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

I could see my breath in the air, somewhere amongst the changing colors of the leaves. It smelled like candied apples and coffee. I was wearing an oversized hoodie and carrying what felt like the biggest binder sold at Staples.

As I scurried into the large brick building, flashed my ID, and ran to squeeze my body into the elevator, my mission was clear. Get to class before Professor Mitch says the writing prompt.

See, in my freshman creative writing seminar (which my college forced me to take because why would I ever sign up to take this class as I was destined to become a doctor and creative writing had no place in my college credit calculator), the professor would give us a writing prompt at the very beginning of class. We then had 5 minutes to write whatever came into our brains. However, if a student was late, the prompt was not repeated and you sat there, idle, thinking about why you couldn’t get your 18-year-old self to class on time to hear the prompt.

At the beginning of the semester, I loathed having to take this class but as my writing got selected to be read aloud, I felt myself…

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Dr. Payal Aggarwal
New Writers Welcome

Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist | Daughter, Wife and Mother | Global Citizen