Growing up, I have always had an interest in English and literature. I remember I would spend most of time just reading book after book any moment I could - I was even acknowledged for completing A Series of Unfortunate Events in the fifth grade when we dedicated about twenty minutes a day to silent reading. I loved picking up a good piece of literature and being taken into the world of the characters from the piece of writing. Back then, I had this fascination for fantasy and other Fictional genres. I cannot tell you how many times my room transformed into a war zone where soldiers were fighting off their enemies or even an enchanting forest where dragons and fairies wandered freely.
Before this class, I never took too much thought as to why English courses in the public school system are designed the way they are. I was taught the basic-skills of literature incorporated in our schooling which is reading, writing, and rithmetic. For more than a decade, I spent my days in the classrooms looking at texts written from white cismales with an occasional Ethnic writer who represented a good four pages out of the entire class textbook. I was taught to write, read, and think white because that is where the heart of the education system is. To think that white is good, white is better. This as a whole suppressed my growth as an individual and finding my identity and my voice. Because at the end of the day, I know I will never be white so I refused to conform.
I was terrified before entering the classroom because I had envisioned an environment where English in particular, there was going to be an instructor who assigned ridiculous amounts of reading and writing endless amounts of essays on nothing. Last semester in English, was quite a struggle for me because the professor expected a lot of productivity out of her students. She was one of the professors who thought that her course was the only one her students were enrolled in. Do not get me wrong she taught me to challenge myself, but it did get overwhelming most of the time. I specifically remember this professor saying something along the lines of “Those English 214 professors are no joke, you think my class is hard just wait.”
I already had invisible narratives playing in my head way before stepping foot into this class, thinking that this class was going to be the end of me.
Keeping this class in mind, the structure of the course has benefitted me as a student by incorporating my learning style. I love collaborating with others’ ideas and seeing where we can go as a whole. I love the fact that everyone can be vocal about their opinions and beliefs, even though I may disagree with them it still calls on great discussion and dialogue. Now I would be lying to you if I were to say that this class did not offer any level of difficulty because it did and it still does. And the most challenging part about this course is “unlearning” over a decade’s worth of teaching, in a semester and starting to think outside of the eurocentric curriculum. I see it in our faces every single day. That moment of “AHHHH” when we realize that we are overthinking an assignment and going beyond what it truly asked for because we all have fallen victim to thinking the same way.
By being apart of this class has already restored the hopes of what I wish to get out of an English course and ultimately that is for me to read, write, and think for myself. It has taken English to a whole other level for me and breaks down all of the boundaries of what should be taught and how it should be taught. It has made me more socially aware of all the world that surrounds me and how all these images can play in my head all because of one word. I appreciate having an instructor who can incorporate topics such as power, privilege and systems of oppression in their work.
It is truly a blessing to actually be a part of class where the instructor plays the role of a mentor and liberator and empowers their students. Though it is not always the easiest process, it is always the most rewarding.
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