My second semester of grad school ended last week, leading me to reflect on my academic experiences from the last few months. I would love to explore my grad school experience in great detail, but since the semester was punctuated with toxic moments, especially inside the classroom, I do not want to risk alienating myself by revealing too much.
Needless to say, I have realized more passionately than ever that I need to take the extra initiative outside of class to read and write poems that resonate with me, and to grow as much as possible without feeling inclined to rely on others, including my peers and teachers, to push me in the right direction. My peers and teachers, however, have helped me grow as a poet in several ways--in fewer ways than I had hoped, to be frank, but that is the point: I need to take greater control over my life as a poet, revising my poems more strictly, even if that means omitting swaths of needless descriptions and similes in my work. Now, the semester is over, and I looking forward to enjoying this summer break even more. In fact, I have written several new poems--the kinds of poems my peers in grad school may tore to pieces, but that is life, after all. I, at least, like my latest work. Below I include a list of "writing takeaways" from my last poetry writing class. I have applied and will continue to apply the takeaways in my work.
Some of these ideas repeat in different ways, but that goes to show that key takeaways often reappear across different situations whether you like it or not. I love these "writing takeaways," and I likely learned more last semester. If I think of more, maybe I will write about them in a future blog post. Here's to a great summer!
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