Leah McCorquodale
Writing can be intimidating
Above is a picture of me, a freshman in college, a girl who has always loved learning in school. I was always the kid who was super excited to go to school. However, there was one part of school I never enjoyed… reading and writing. I have been more of a STEM girl from the start. Writing has never come easy to me and was honestly the source of half my frustration in high school.
As college rolled around, I felt hopeful, knowing that I had already suffered through my English credits. I figured I would never have to take another English or writing class, but boy, was I wrong.
Since I am a Pre-pharmacy major and studying on an accelerated track, the classes I have to take are limited and, thankfully, mostly science-based. However, my advisor uttered the words I dreaded most before making my schedule this semester, “you should really take a professional writing class.”
Emphasis on the “should” because it was not a requirement, just strongly encouraged. I decided I might as well go for it and it was a problem for next semester anyway.
Spring semester quickly approached, and after my first day of writing class, I immediately wanted to drop it. The class was too far out of my comfort zone. However, I made a promise to myself to do more things that intimidated me this semester, so I decided to stick with it.
Though I had initial hesitations, I have grown to enjoy this class. I much prefer to write more formal pieces, so this has been honestly a little fun.
My teacher has us write on Medium as assignments. I really enjoy writing on Medium because it feels low-stakes. I can write about things I am passionate about, such as cheerleading and school here, and know it is an accepted place to do so. Putting my work out for others to read really scared me, but Medium feels like such a casual place to do so.
Through the first half of this class, I have become much more comfortable with writing and I now do not mind it as much. I am so glad that I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and I look forward to continuing with Medium even beyond my class.
