Here I Am

I never really thought that I'd be here. Here being online blogging. But I realized something earlier this week while teaching AP Composition: I miss writing. I use to write journals, upon journals, as a teenager. Stories about drama with friends, a day at work at the community center, and my fears and thoughts about the future, boys, and my life. In college, I wrote out of necessity. English majors tend to do that. I defined myself as a writer the semester I had four English classes and wrote 35 papers in 15 weeks. Some were thought-provoking, while others were hot of the printer as I walked into class. After college, during my first few years in the "real world", I wrote e-mails. E-mails to friends and family were my outlet for expressing thoughts, feelings, concerns.

And then life as an English teacher took over. I often tell people that teaching isn't a job, it's a lifestyle. I've always known I've been an effective writer (I hate the word good), but when I spend 7 hours a day for 9 months a year looking at ineffective writing, I forget. Until now. This is my first semester teaching AP Composition and it has done many things for my teaching and thinking, both professionally and personally. And the one I'm most thankful for now is the desire to write again. So we'll see how this "blog thing" goes. I have a lot of questions, comments, concerns, and smart alec remarks about the world around me, so here is to a new chapter of writing in my life.