my personal MANIFESTO.

It is April 14, 2012 and it’s the end of another semester at BYU.  But for me, this semester’s end is different.  Really different.  It’s different because I’m graduating next week.  I’m done.  After 16 years of school, I am finally and officially DONE.  It feels so weird.  I don’t really know how to wrap my head (or my heart) around it entirely. As I look back on the past 16 years, a lot of memories come to mind.  I have learned so much in the past 16 years.  So much about life.  So much about how to work through problems and how to communicate and how to think.

Taking MCOM 320 this semester has really opened my eyes to a few things.  I say this in all sincerity.  I’ll be completely honest, I wasn’t super stoked to take this class.  I took it because I had to, because my major required it, because I wouldn’t be able to graduate without it.  Looking back now, I’m so glad I had to take it.  So glad I GOT to take it! 

My teacher, Shayne Clarke, was a riot.  One of the funniest guys I have ever met (literally).  Although he was extremely entertaining, he was also an amazing teacher.  He made me love writing more than I ever have before.  Because he loved writing, he made ME love writing.  He was passionate about writing and it was very evident (in the way he talked about it, in the personal experiences he told us, in the way he wrote his emails to us). 

Probably my favorite thing Shayne had us do was to write a weekly blog.  Now let’s be real, I have never been a good blogger.  I have never been a good journal writer.  Writing has always stressed me out.  I have always felt like I had to live up to some invisible standard of humor and creativity.  So when he first told us about the blog assignment, I immediately felt stressed.  Then he told us we could write on whatever we wanted, however we wanted, as much as we wanted…as long as we were writing.  My stress levels went a notch down.  “I can do this!” I thought to myself. 

So every week I wrote a blog post.  And every week I got more excited to write a blog post.  I had so much freedom in what I could write.  I wrote about things that make me happy, favorite songs, memories of my parents, things I’m grateful for, etc .  The more I wrote, the more I began to enjoy writing!  There was no pressure, no expectations, no specific guidelines I had to follow.  I just had to write and I started to love it!  I found that writing was an escape for me.  It gave me a chance to put my thoughts on paper (or computer).  It was therapeutic to get those things out.  I am a recreational therapy major and I would definitely consider writing to be a form of recreational therapy.

Because of the weekly blog posts I had to write, I have come to love writing more than I ever have before.  I have realized that it’s not as daunting as it seems.  I have realized that I really do like writing.  If I had to classify myself as a certain kind of writer, I would say I’m a creative yet realistic writer.  I write about real life things, but I make them fun to read.  Every time I wrote a blog post, I thought about the audience that would be reading it and I subconsciously aimed it at them.  I thrived on the comments I would receive regarding my different posts.  I loved the feedback I got from people.  I enjoyed writing to an invisible (yet real) audience! 

Through the time I spent writing, I realized that I like writing when I don’t have restrictions.  Restrictions and rules scare me.  They make me feel inadequate.  But when I have the freedom to write what I want, I think I write so much better!  I am definitely more true to myself and my real personality shows through when I am not restricted to write about a certain thing in a certain way.  But I realize that sometimes in life, I’m gonna have to write according to a certain set of rules or guidelines.  That’s okay though!  Because I have learned to love writing, I will look at every opportunity to write as an opportunity to express myself and show my personality.  I will continue to follow rules (if they are set forth) but I will not let those rules inhibit me and keep me from saying what I really want to say.  I will work with the rules and fit in my thoughts and opinions and personality where it is appropriate!

So the moral of the story is that I really have come to love writing.  I am so glad I took MCOM 320…and I’m especially glad I took it from Shayne!  I don’t think my love for writing would have developed so fully if I had a different teacher. 

I absolutely love life and I look forward to the future!  It’s so exciting to not know exactly what my plans are!  I’m gonna take life as it comes and enjoy every second of it!

 Cheers to MCOM 320.  

Cheers to writing.  

Cheers to the future.  

Cheers to life J