Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Is it possible to see people grow right before your eyes? I have to celebrate the little victories I have seen in my class's writing and behavior. They can't get away now--I've seen what they can do, and I'm going to expect it of them. They definitely deserve more credit than they are getting from life.

This week in their journals, I had them write descriptions of a place on campus that they frequent, and then a description of a stranger or friend that they find there. My students have no idea just how elegantly their minds work--They blew me away, and left me cackling and gasping for breath right in the middle of the Writing Lab.

A few of my favorites:

For laughs...

"...I am sitting across from a young man who is working on his lap top. He looks like he is in his early twenties and has not shaved for a couple days. My first impression of him is that he seems focused. He barely looks up from his computer, and when he does, it is to look at his book. He has a little bit of chest hair sticking out of his blue polo shirt."

"I'm back in the courtyard again. This time I sit on a different cement bench. Who should I pick? The young man with the skateboard. Ball cap on sideways, shirt hanging out and headphones on. Must be a thrasher, think that's what they call them."

"...It makes me wonder why they don't go to the library to study, where it is quiet and the atmosphere is still. Perfect for studying. For me, I sit here in the bistro because it feels like life here. In the library it is just rows of dead trees with people who look like corpses."

For honesty...

"Sad. That is the only word that comes to me to describe the girl who sits across from me. She is wearing a pink and yellow plaid jacket with a pink undershirt to match. She is wearing blue jeans and glasses and her hair is in a tight ballerina bun. She is overweight and I've seen her eat 3 burritos in the course of 40 minutes."

"...Last of all this poor person doesn't know what people see, because more than likely that's not what they see about themselves. When looking in the mirror, most people don't see what others criticize about them. Not knowing the background or daily life it's harsh to pick on a person just walking by, and doing my paper on observation. Well just like I said it's hard, and sometimes cruel to judge a book by it's cover." (Mea culpa, mea culpa.)

For sheer style...

"Start on top, walk down stairs, walk straight, take a left, open another door, three steps straight, then another left. That is where I am. Left row, two tables up, seat on the right. That is where I am. There are not that many people here, five to be exact. But as time goes on, it gets more and more crowded. That is where I am. It is clean, it is organized. But with time closing in on class, it starts to become noisier.

This is classroom P.E. 103."

 "Me, being the creep I am, I try to study this young man as he sits in study hall. He is average height, around 5'11 or 6'. His skin is dark, along with his hair. His ethnicity looks like he's hispanic. He has a stocky type body, but looks healthy. His hair is short and messy. He sits there on his lap top with his head phones not knowing I am writing about him."

 "As I am sitting in the courtyard, I notice the trees are starting to loose their leaves. Some of the trees are actually changing colors. It is early in the morning, so the air is still a little chilly. The sun is starting to rise, so I'm sure it will start to warm up. There is nobody in the courtyard now, so it's pretty quiet. I can hear the fountain, the water trickling over the rocks and into the pond below. The sound it makes soothes me. I feel like I'm out in the woods next to a creek. People are starting to come out of the buildings now, so the peace and quiet are gone. This cement bench is uncomfortable, the little stones in the cement are bothering me. Time to leave, I have to go to class now."