 I remember the feeling of utmost excitement when an English teacher in high school would start our day with the phrase "Free Write" on the white board. To me, this meant I could write about anything I wanted and the options were endless. Perhaps this is where my love of writing began. The classroom which supported and encouraged my creativity and freedom to write was one that taught me to love the material I created. My current attitude towards writing is a positive one, that is if it's writing about something I want to write about. Leave the reports, textbook analysis, and structure to the side and give me the good stuff-freedom.
This occasional freedom in the classroom is what I believe is the source of my lively relationship with reading and writing-mostly writing. Those days in the classroom, having come from a day filled with a held tongue and handfuls of almosts, were what kept me going. The ability to be free and say what mattered to me, say what I wanted to say, this is what gave and gives my life meaning, along with other things. Something that additionally excited me about these "free write" days was that we didn't get graded on these papers. Without the pressure to have a strict structure, follow certain guidelines, and strive to write in a way that pleases the teacher, I was able to let loose and just write. When the mentioned pressures were present, I felt that I was being held back and obtained in a space too small to fit my wondrous and abundant writing. Writing is what takes me to a place where the world is an oasis, waiting to be filled with stories and "the impossible". I can take the ideas from my imagination and put them onto paper, making them come alive, and in a sense become reality in the form of literature. Writing also enables me to make my stance and point of view clear and heard. It isn't always easy to communicate what's going on upstairs through speaking, so the ability to write allows for the liberation of my words. https://www.gwhatchet.com/2018/03/22/students-need-more-freedom-to-choose-assignment-topics/
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