Last night I finished writing the first draft of my reflection paper. It is my first college English paper, written in MLA format and following all of the writing rules that we have learned so far. I have been working on it for about a week and I finally finished it at 10:30pm the night before it was due. I read through it several times and got really excited. My first real college paper! A piece I am calling "Starting Over". I was so excited that I wanted to share it with someone. But who would think I wasn't crazy calling them so late to read them a 4 page essay all about me?
The boyfriend had already gone to bed and so had the Russian BFF. I tweeted about it to see if anyone was online. My beloved friend and fellow college student Sarah, who I almost just called, responded but it was after I had already given up on Twitter. So I called the people who I knew had an obligation to be there for me, my parents.
Me: "Hi Dad, is Mom awake?"
Dad: "No she had to be to work at 5 this morning so she is asleep. Is everything OK?"
Me: "Yeah, I just thought she might find my college paper interesting and was going to make her listen to it. How do you feel about listening to it?"
Dad: "I could do that."
Me: "Are you sure? It's like 4 pages long, but I am really excited about it."
Dad: "Sure."
So I read my essay that I had poured my heart into to my Dad over the phone. Being the wonderful parent that he is he gave me his full attention and when I was done he validated that what I wrote was indeed good. My Dad is not the type to get all worked up with praises, but if there is one thing having all daughters has taught him, it's to sense when his girls really need to hear those praises. He told me my essay was well written, that it had just the right amount of personal information but not too much and that he enjoyed how it ended on such an upbeat note. I know that he is my Dad so he is all but required to say nice things, but it was still so wonderful to hear.
I suppose that every once in a while even the strongest of people need to hear that they did something good. Thank God for parents who tell you that you've done just that.
Blogfully yours,
Summer
5 comments:
it always helps to get an attaboy or attagirl every now and then.
Show us the damn paper already!
Agree with kel!
Seriously, congratulations on your first paper. I don't think I was proud of anything I wrote in college. I think one good thing about being a non-trad student is that school isn't just an obligatory step. You actually want it. I think you're getting a lot more out of college than I did!
You should call him every day.
I wish I could call my dad just one more time.
And now C.S. Perry has made me cry.
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