I had a very interesting meeting with a professor yesterday. After a rough semester prior (see: "Push"), I was a bit surprised at some of my grades. They weren't too bad. Scraping in good work by the nose is/was no fun. There was however one grade, or rather, a lack thereof that bothered me. I got an "I" standing for incomplete in one of my favorite classes. In all of my 7 semesters in undergrad, I'd never recieved an I. I finish. I finished, right?
As I arrived she decided that it would be more advantageous to her schedule if we could have lunch over our meeting. We talked several topics ranging from "what's going right in low-income Boston, MA schools that isn't going right in low-income schools in Orangeburg, SC?" and goals, to projects that we're working on. It was interesting but the high beams on that "I" sitting on my term grades repair was a constant glare in my eyes and mind.
It seems that she was simply unimpressed by my final paper. It was too fluffy with a lot of beautiful words. The problem comes when the reader has to spend too much time decoding it to find the true, raw statement. While drafting my statement of purpose and personal statement, I was told on a few occassions that I needed to drastically cut down on my adverb and adject use. The general nature of the judges reading through my application were looking for deliberate, accute statements, perspectives, and reasonings. They had several thousand to read through and were not interested in ruffling through the blanket to find the piggie. As a reader, I enjoy when authors can find creative ways to express the ordinary. As a thinker, I enjoy the journey of interpretation. As a writer, I find more joy in delivering writing that allows readers to interact with my thoughts and feelings. The only time I like things straight is when dealing with relationships.
We went through the paper and she basically echoed what my Fulbrighter advisor said. She also added the importance of being able to write in a scholarly way during graduate work. "Hmmn, indeed", I thought to myself. As my undergrad comes to a close, and I begin the journey into professional and post graduate arenas, it is important that I'm able to adequately transition. So, my professor pushed "pause" for me. I'm very glad she did. Way to look out Dr.
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