The History of Katy: By a partial, prejudiced and ignorant author...

Fun! I am so excited about this one! Probably because I truly enjoy talking about myself in any form and I love talking English. BONUS!

There wasn’t only one teacher or one experience that helped me with writing an essay. It took many teachers, many classes and many experiences for me to finally grasp the essay process. The bulk of it came in high school. If one were to pay attention to different academic news around the nation (who doesn’t, right?), one would hear about a sort of educational turn around in Washington state. Numerous exams have been instated that all students must take and pass in order to graduate. One such exam is called the “Exit Exam”. This is actually two essays that freshmen and sophomores have to take. The first essay, taken freshmen year, is a 5-paragraph persuasive essay. The second is taken Sophomore year and it’s another 5-paragraph essay on how to do anything. Because of this, all English teacher’s were insane on correct essay form and how to be persuasive and make a coherent essays. Not only was I dealing with this, but I was on the yearbook staff as editor of the Student Life, Freshmen, Sophomore and Junior section. My advisor was strict. I had more paper’s ripped up in front of my eyes Sophomore year than every other year combined. That’s how I learned to write a 5 paragraph essay.

However, knowing how a 5 paragraph essay is structured differs from writing a good essay. Out of high school, I knew how to structure an essay with one hand tied behind my back. I was ready to take on the world, much like Dr. Rogers! I’d won an award at a national competition, I’d received A’s in English my entire life and I was sure I’d become a Pulitzer Prized Author by the end of my college education. I had Dr. Loughton for English1010. I strutted into class, thinking that beginning English was such a waste of my time. Dr. Loughton walked into class 10 minutes late and immediately said “I want an essay”. BONUS! I can write essays in no time at all. I was like the kid in “A Christmas Story” who envisioned writing such a well-written persuasive essay that the teacher would give me an A+++++ and I’d never have to write another essay again. He continued, “About a life-changing experience. I don’t care about format. I don’t care about the number of paragraphs. I want you to have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.” I listened to the rest of class in half interest. What’s the big problem? I can do it. I went home and wrote what I thought was a brilliant essay. However, I was wrong. Oh yes, it was well-structured and I had transitions that my high school teachers would have swooned over, but my content was terrible. I was handed my paper back with a big “C-“ emblazoned on the top. I labeled myself a failure. I listened carefully in class on how he wanted feeling in the papers, I took notes on how to choose a better topic and the next class I received a B. I continually worked till I was finally receiving A’s on my papers again.

So that’s basically how it happened. It wasn’t easy. I remember one point where I was at my grandparent’s for dinner and I announced that I would never be a good author and I was giving up. But I eventually did it with LOTS of encouragement from both my mom and sister who are also writers. THANK GOODNESS!