autobiography writing

Growing up in rural Catawba County I attended small public schools for my education, and I struggled with my writing throughout my schooling experience. While I knew I struggled in my writing, it did not become overly apparent until I began my college years at Appalachian State University. That is the defining time when I realized I had been disadvantaged in my schooling experience by attending smaller rural schools. Over the years, I have worked diligently in my writing to make up for the loss of writing instruction during my K-12 public school experience while also working to increase my confidence with my writing abilities.
Throughout my typical K-12 school years I disliked writing due to the nature of how assignments were to be written: formal, 3rd person, and with stiff language. I wrote in a way that the teacher wanted me to write instead of using my voice in my writing (Richards & Miller, 2005). I can only recall one teacher that gave me the opportunity to write about personal experiences. The assignment, to create an autobiography, was introduced by my 9th grade English teacher. Over the course of the semester we followed a timeline that included due dates for drafts and final copies as well as topic ideas for each chapter. When the autobiography was finished for the course assignment, I had written a book about some of the most important events in my life up to that point. This assignment meant so much to me that I still have it today. It has been a great conversation piece with my husband as we have exchanged stories about our childhoods.
The following year in high school, I had an English teacher that was the exact opposite of my previous teacher. She did not encourage writing: her focus was on grammar. Each day we completed grammar exercises from the textbook; not a thrilling task for a disinterested high school student. This teacher did not develop my desire to write. Instead, she created a fear in me of writing due to the fact that I may make a mistake with my grammar. I mean, how could I be a writer if my grammar was not perfect? Today, I still fear making mistakes with my grammar as I write, but I have learned to get my ideas written down. Once the idea is documented I can go back to make corrections to the grammar and spelling if needed, which is where my husband steps in as proof-reader.
As I continued on in my higher education courses over the years, I have learned more about me as a writer. For starters, I prefer a quite place to read and write; however, I like silence when I am working on an important piece. I become frustrated when ideas do not flow continuously throughout my brain. I am not a fast writer, but I have gotten faster over the years. The adage, “practice makes perfect” could be applied to my writing, even if I am not a perfect writer. With practice I have become a better writer. And just like Sharon, one of the authors, “I’m a deadline person. Give me a task and a deadline, and I’ll get the job done” (p. 24). But one of the most important things I know about myself as a writer is I am reluctant. This could be coined with being a procrastinator since I can think of a million things to do from my “to-do” list instead of writing (p. 17). However, when it comes time for me to write I know the direction I want my writing to take. Usually, I create a list of ideas to consider in my writing and begin the process by typing directly into my computer. When my ideas change along the way I am flexible with the direction I am heading and incorporate new ideas as I write (In fact, this sentence is an example of this process). I find that I write and rewrite as I go instead of waiting till the end. Maybe this makes me a sequential planner as well.
While I still do not enjoy writing and have no aspirations to be a writer, I did challenge myself in a course I took to earn my Master of School Administration degree and ended up surprising myself. The professor, at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, wanted the students to write a paper as the final for the course following his guidelines. As a second option, if we chose, we could work with a partner and write a paper with hopes of having it published. In this case, the submission guidelines for the publishing company were to be followed. While I do not consider myself to be a risk-taker, I did venture out with a peer and wrote an article that was published in the magazine of the National Association of Elementary School Principals. It was through years of working to increase my self-confidence in my writing that I was able to take this risk. Now, I have the feeling of self-accomplishment with my writing. If I was able to have an article published, then my writing must be worth reading.
From this process I also learned about revising. The original manuscript included ten actions school administrators can take to retain staff. When the article was published there were four ways to support new teachers instead of the original ten. While I was disappointed that the entire manuscript was not published, I was ecstatic that the magazine saw enough interest in the manuscript to print the best four ideas. Having my name in print revived my interest in writing to some extent.
My fear of writing to meet the demands of others still was not completely shattered. After working as an assistant principal for several years, I decided to take the plunge and apply for the doctoral program. My dream of working on this degree was almost compressed by none other than myself when I realized I had to retake the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Since I had taken the GRE several years ago, there was now a writing portion that I would need to complete. As a Christmas gift that year my husband gave me a GRE study guide. After reviewing the book for several months and learning the process of what was expected in the writing, I signed up to take the GRE and submitted my doctoral application. I am happy to report that I must have learned the standard protocol for successfully completing the writing portion because my score was more than acceptable and allowed me to be admitted into the program.
Today I am constantly thinking about the dissertation process and how I can better prepare myself to complete this daunting task. Until recently I thought the dissertation had to include stiff language, which is not how I write. I like to report findings, state a point, or share knowledge in a written way that others will understand. I believe that simple language can relay information about a topic and readers may actually enjoy this type of writing. While I don’t expect others to want to read my dissertation as a Sunday read, I do hope they will be able to comprehend the information without depending on a dictionary for assistance.
As I prepare to take on the most important writing task in my college assignments, I hope to find a new appreciation for writing. With diligence, committed time to writing, a carefully selected committee and peers to proof-read my work, I know I will succeed in this task. I can end my formal college experience with a new outlook on writing. It is my goal to share my story and transformation with students who are just beginning their higher education career, and maybe, just maybe, they will be able to call me Dr. Brendle-Corum.