“I sit here up in my office listening to the sounds of the kitchen being torn apart with power tools. Bob Falkowski, my significant other, is downstairs working on the remodel of our kitchen. His work is not clumsy, for he is a master in this trade. A man of 37 years who you could swear was born with a hammer in his hand, could turn any construction disaster into something beautiful. I love him for it.” 

— “Building a Reality”, Alicia Jesperson 

I chose this opening paragraph to revisit because my favorite part of writing essays is the introduction and getting a chance to write interesting and creative beginnings to my work. No one likes a boring start to an essay, and I feel like I am a storyteller in my writing habits.  

I used to loathe writing essays in school; I always thought they were boring and uninspiring. Around 8^th grade, I really got into reading (specifically Stephen King novels) and aspired to become an author. I began writing my own fiction stories and focused on my English classes more because I knew to become a good writer one must understand all the aspects of the language. But still, I found essay-writing excruciatingly painful, and writing monotonous 5-paragraph essays on books I didn’t care about to be dull.  

One day, while feeling particularly under stimulated by the assignment set for me, I asked myself, “does this paper have to be boring? Can I write this in a different way and make it entertaining for me?” I began writing like it was one of my fictional stories. I pretended like it was the most important thing to me and used loads of emphasis in my work.  

I got an A.  

After that, I began enjoying writing papers a lot more, with the focus of trying to entertain the reader and myself.

Writing is creative, and can be an art, and I am an artistic person.  

Jesperson, Alicia. “Building a Reality.” Log in’ Alicia Jesperson – WordPress, 15 Apr. 2024, sites.lsc.edu/aliciajesperson/wp-admin/post.php?post=77&action=edit.