Getting Started on Blogger ::Letter of Introduction

My name is Jessica Pennington, and I lived and went to school in the small rural town of De Soto Kansas. Being from a small town, there wasn’t much to do unless you count hanging out at the local sonic. The lack of activity may have been a blessing, however, because it pushed me to get involved in school. During my High School career I was the volleyball captain, the debate captain, the vice president of Student Council, a member of the National Honor Society, and a state qualifying member of the Forensics team.

On a more personal level, I enjoy photography, autumn, reading, coffee, and spending my Sundays (and most other days) in sweat pants. I have been truly blessed in my life with wonderful people. Firstly, there is my mother, who I am lucky enough to have a meaningful friendship with, and who has proven to be a reliable source of support and positivity in my life. Secondly, there is my amazing boyfriend, who was very persistent with me for the past three years, forgiven me for my mistakes, and opened up a completely new world for me by teaching me how to love. I still find myself amazed what can happen when you open your heart to another human being.

Specifically relating to this course, I do really enjoy writing. Being the debate captain, I have written a little under one trillion persuasive and case-type papers in the last four years, and that is what I am most comfortable doing: research, form an opinion, write, persuade, rinse, and repeat. I think my strong point in writing is non-fiction. I am not a fan of story writing, fantasy, poetry or science fiction (even though I thoroughly enjoy reading all of the above) from an authors standpoint. In wiring, I like to voice my opinion and sometimes throw in a hint of sarcasm. Besides persuasive papers I also like writing about people and emotions, etc.
I have three main troubles with writing. Firstly, there is spelling. It is only appropriate that I take this time to thank Bill Gates and Microsoft for creating spell check. It has saved my life. Secondly, there is the area of poetry. I’m not sure what it is about poetry that scares me into tears. I think it’s because, to me at least, it is such a more personal form of writing, and where I don’t mind writing out my feelings, poetry is the most torturous form of writing to ever be invented. Lastly, there is the issue of word limits. It seems to me if a paper is supposed to be only one page long, I have enough to fill three pages and I am completely unable to cut anything out. Sometimes this issue works in reverse, and I can’t make the limit. Boundaries worry me.

Ideally in this class I would like to improve my writing in all areas, even those that I feel most confidently about, because one can always get better. I look forward to advancing my writing during this class, and feel doing just that will be very useful in many aspects of life.