Personal Narrative Writing Workshop

Grade 11
1st Draft: February 14th,2023
Final Submission: February 21st ,2023

Name:

1st draft _____/100 Parents’ Signature

Final Submission ____/100 Parents’ Signature

My College Education

The first class I went to in college was philosophy, and it changed my life forever. Our first assignment was to
write a short response paper to the Albert Camus essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” I was extremely nervous about
the assignment as well as college. However, through all the confusion in philosophy class, many of my
questions about life were answered.

I entered college intending to earn a degree in engineering. I always liked the way mathematics had right and
wrong answers. I understood the logic and was very good at it. So when I received my first philosophy
assignment that asked me to write my interpretation of the Camus essay, I was instantly confused. What is the
right way to do this assignment, I wondered? I was nervous about writing an incorrect interpretation and did not
want to get my first assignment wrong. Even more troubling was that the professor refused to give us any
guidelines on what he was looking for; he gave us total freedom. He simply said, “I want to see what you come
up with.”

Full of anxiety, I first set out to read Camus’s essay several times to make sure I really knew what was it was
about. I did my best to take careful notes. Yet even after I took all these notes and knew the essay inside and out,
I still did not know the right answer. What was my interpretation? I could think of a million different ways to
interpret the essay, but which one was my professor looking for? In math class, I was used to examples and
explanations of solutions. This assignment gave me nothing; I was completely on my own to come up with my
individual interpretation.

Next, when I sat down to write, the words just did not come to me. My notes and ideas were all present, but the
words were lost. I decided to try every prewriting strategy I could find. I brainstormed, made idea maps, and
even wrote an outline. Eventually, after a lot of stress, my ideas became more organized and the words fell on
the page. I had my interpretation of “The Myth of Sisyphus,” and I had my main reasons for interpreting the
essay. I remember being unsure of myself, wondering if what I was saying made sense, or if I was even on the
right track. Through all the uncertainty, I continued writing the best I could. I finished the conclusion paragraph,
had my spouse proofread it for errors, and turned it in the next day simply hoping for the best.

Then, a week or two later, came judgment day. The professor gave our papers back to us with grades and
comments. I remember feeling simultaneously afraid and eager to get the paper back in my hands. It turned out,
however, that I had nothing to worry about. The professor gave me an A on the paper, and his notes suggested
that I wrote an effective essay overall. He wrote that my reading of the essay was very original and that my
thoughts were well organized. My relief and newfound confidence upon reading his comments could not be
overstated.

What I learned through this process extended well beyond how to write a college paper. I learned to be open to
new challenges. I never expected to enjoy a philosophy class and always expected to be a math and science
person. This class and assignment, however, gave me the self-confidence, critical-thinking skills, and courage to
try a new career path. I left engineering and went on to study law and eventually became a lawyer. More
important, that class and paper helped me understand education differently. Instead of seeing college as a direct
stepping stone to a career, I learned to see college as a place to first learn and then seek a career or enhance an
existing career. By giving me the space to express my own interpretation and to argue for my own values, my
philosophy class taught me the importance of education for education’s sake. That realization continues to pay
dividends every day.
First Draft
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