Bennett Holler

UWRT
2/4/16

Young and creative, thoughts that dont seem to have a purpose. What
can we do with all this newfound knowledge now that humans have started
to truly experience the world? Should we share it online, or keep it to
ourselves? Use those experiences to not only educate others but
simultaneously educate yourself. I find myself searching for a new way to
organize my ideas into something that my audience could be interactive
with. Writing is my only outlet being that I wasnt as talented in film making,
drawing, etc. With each essay I was assigned in school, I quickly recognized
that no matter what the prompt was, I was enjoying the fact that I could
incorporate my own ideas into the essay. Taking your own stories and
passing them on through writing is one of the most uncommon techniques in
todays social media driven generation, which is why I take it upon myself in
every writing assignment I do to try to not just complete the assignment but
write about something the audience will find unique. Writing to me is how I
voice my opinion, ideas, and my experiences.

One can choose how they want to argue their opinion. There is no right
or wrong way, but Ive always seen debates to be the most effective way to
get your opinion across to those who dont show interest in your side of the
argument. Putting my arguing points down on paper in a strategic way that
will benefit myself has saved me from saying something completely
irrelevant. Writing can be a way to prioritize your ideas, instead of struggling
to arrange them in your head. Socratic Seminars in my junior year of high
school practically forced me to apply these techniques, which to my surprise
I still find myself using something I learned in high school.
When I was assigned my Senior Exit paper I could pick any topic that I
wanted. I decided to write my paper on something that I was familiar with
and that I had a strong opinion about. Out of the near hundred essays I had
written throughout my time in high school, the Senior Exit was the one that
counted the most. I wanted to approach this paper in a new perspective
unlike what I had done in the past. A relaxed but still informative tone was
what I thought would sound best when I was tasked with presenting my
paper verbally to a panel of judges. Thinking of it as just another essay
assisted with my thought process when brainstorming and organizing my
research. The most important thing that I had taken away from writing my

Senior Exit paper was that having complete and total confidence in your
paper will prove to be very beneficial when youre asked to present it
verbally. Actually possessing genuine knowledge helped tremendously when
the judges asked me questions. My most memorable note that I took away
from my presentation was that I had enlightened the judges on a subject that
they seemed to have little to no concept of. In their eyes it mustve been
quite foreign, which gave me the utmost satisfaction that I could acquaint
them to the topic.
Creativity when Im writing is what keeps me engaged when Im
piecing together stories, narratives, etc. Using the same style over and over
again can get repetitive and disinterest me. I try to use writing as a source of
self-entertainment, especially when I get to choose the topic. Thinking of it
as my own script I like to read aloud my work and try to imagine how my
audience would portray my writing. Its critical that if I dont get to choose
my topic that I learn to love the topic Im given, know everything about it,
and relate to it in any way I can. The worst thing you can do is pretend to
know what youre talking about because eventually someone will call that
bluff. The more information I can gather about a topic the more I can write; in
a way Im always learning something new when Im writing. Whether it be
about myself or the people I associate with. Some thoughts I put on paper I
wouldve never fathomed I would say aloud. Thats just how my conscious as
a largely quiet and passive person stays sane. Its fascinating to me that I
seem to take on a new persona when Im writing. I dont see myself as a very
philosophical thinker but for some reason I assume this sense of wonderment
and exploration when Im writing as if Im taking my first steps unto a
unfamiliar plain.
Writing as a whole has taught me to embrace new horizons and
explore the information thats out there. Everyone has their different uses of
writing but for me its to explore what I already know and what I have yet to
know. Ive found that you dont need to travel to learn new things. Everything
you could ever want to know someone has most likely written about it,
waiting for an audience to engross themselves with their writing. To me its a
universal learning tool that many dont take advantage of. Through all the
essays and research papers Ive come to the conclusion that students arent
just assigned these for no purpose. Theyre assigned for the sole purpose to
help burgeon our young writing minds as well as allow us to incorporate our
own thoughts.