Dear Mr. Weinstein,
I’ve got to admit, creative writing has not been an easy course for me. I entered my senior year thinking that my life would be a whole lot rosier than it is right now. Unfortunately, I was quickly disillusioned when my work load blew up at an exponential rate before my eyes. As much as I wanted to distinguish myself in your class, it was tough balancing all the responsibilities that I had taken. Often times, creative writing was the last thing on my mind. I can say the same was true for Emily; we both really wanted to excel in your class. We thought that this year would be our year – the year in which we’d create all the outstanding poems, build upon our writing skills, and make you proud to be our teacher. Needless to say, you were probably a bit disappointed with our accomplishments, for even we understood that our work was not up to par.
However, what is the point of all talk and no action? Emily and I saw this final portfolio as the last chance to redeem ourselves. We wanted to create something great, something worthy of our skills. Therefore, we decided to take on a massive project. Let it be known that this was really quite crazy for us – we haven’t even started studying for our midterms yet! Even so, the time we spent on our project has been worthwhile. Ever since last year, Emily and I have wanted to create a picture book. We knew that if we didn’t do it now, there wouldn’t be many chances for us to collaborate in the future. As I’ve said before, it was one really crazy experience. Creating a plotline, drawing pictures, uploading the book online… every step required a lot of time and effort. I am completely exhausted and brain-drained at the moment, but I hope you enjoy the work that we’ve created. It is something we are proud of, and we hope that you will be proud to call us your students after reading our book. Producing this book was hands-down the riskiest action I’ve ever taken in your class. We’re not even sure if it’s going to be counted for as much as we’d like, but who cares? If I hadn’t taken this risk, then everything I ever learned in your class would be null. You were the one who taught us to step out of our comfort zones; Emily and I did just that. So, without further ado, welcome our final portfolio!
Sincerely,
Esther Jiang
P.S. Many of the described events may seem overly exaggerated, ridiculous, and/or unrealistic – because they are. We hope you have fun reading about our silly adventure. :)
There always seems to be discrepancy between what a young, hot headed teenager hopes to be, and what they actually become after college. Senior year is a prime time for such feelings, as college essays and creative writing force us to contemplate our future, and think about the person we want to become. Of course we’re going to dream as big as we can, not many kids will say they just want to go to college, work in a cubicle, get married, and have 2.5 kids. We all want to do something meaningful, something that strays away from the prescribed path. Right now, I feel like the liberal and impractical young girl, with lofty dreams like volunteering in other countries and actually making a difference.
Yet I know I will most likely contract that “grown-up” disease, where the cost of traveling across the world will be a greater consideration than the experience. Where thoughts of volunteering are nice thoughts but never reality, where stability comes before love, and practicality comes before dreams.
Maybe with these words written down, they will serve as a cure for the inevitable future.
