Blog Post #2: About Me, a Certified English Nerd

    I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, so it was a surprise to no one in my life when I decided to switch my major from undecided to English Education at the end of my first year at UW- Milwaukee. Now, as a junior trying to navigate my first professional education semester, I could not be more excited to connect future students with great stories, and positively transform their relationship with reading. While English was always my favorite subject growing up, I know that this is not the case for many students, and they might feel that knot in their stomach walking into English class that I felt walking into my science classes. However, I believe that there is a story out there for every student, and I hope introducing them to all the diverse voices out there inspires them to continue reading and growing.

    With all of this talk about reading, we have to acknowledge another key aspect of the field: writing. This relationship is a bit more complicated for me, as I'm sure it is for many others. While I have always been told that I am a strong writer, and have received many praises on papers over the years, writing has also always been tied to some less positive feelings for me, such as anxiety. I always felt like my writing had to be absolutely perfect and would take criticism as a direct attack on my character. I don't think I will ever completely shake the perfectionist inside of me that comes out of me when I open up Microsoft Word, but I have learned over the years to treat myself with more kindness, and remember that mistakes are a part of learning and growing. I hope for my students to follow this path of grace and understanding, rather than fall into the intense pit of pressure that I think many young/developing writers find themselves in (I surely did). While writing is extremely personal, it is never going to be perfect, and that's okay. We are so much more than our grades and the red ink we receive on our papers. 

    Given that the pandemic hit right around when I decided to make the switch to education, I do not have the direct experience in a secondary English classroom that I wish I did. However, I have had many experiences revising my friends' and peers' writing, and I am always willing to be a second pair of eyes on someone's work. While I do occasionally need to hit up google to refresh my memory on commas and little tricks like "who vs. whom," I do have a solid grasp on grammar. However, I have a particular interest in focusing on aspects of writing like structure, organization, and flow since I think they are much more instrumental to a writer's effectiveness and the writing's purpose than "smaller" things like capitalization and punctuation. 

    Outside of my "academic" self, I like to read (shocker!!), paint, cook, listen to music, watch TV/movies, and spend time with friends and family. Some of my favorite musicians are Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Wallows, and The Lumineers, and some movies I never seem to get tired of watching are Emma (2020), 13 Going on 30, La La Land, and Coco. 

Here is a "literacy selfie" I made to give you an idea of writers who inspire me, books that have shaped my relationship with reading, and quotes that I don't think will ever leave me: