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| Natasha Mundkur - Class of 2019 |
I will never forget the words of my kindergarten teacher, when I sat down to write my first piece of writing in kindergarten for a Halloween project. As a young and timid introvert, I was hesitant to pair my brain and words to speak, let alone write stories to be displayed in school. I stressed over the idea of being a flawless writer, refusing to let the pencil hit paper before a perfect thought entered my mind. That’s when my teacher kneeled beside me and reminded me, “Natasha, always remember, your writing is who you are.” At the time, I didn’t understand the gravity of her words, but they have lived in me from that day forward.
Even though I didn’t truly know, I began to understand that my words, whatever they were, were my own, original, and thoughtful creations that show the world who I am. The moment my kindergarten teacher collected my work that day, her eyes wide with surprise and awe, I knew I would have a future writing to an audience. “There was darkness upon us,” she read my paper aloud, “and midnight was arising. That’s when the creepy ghouls would come out to play with the children of the night.” I will never forget standing in front of my class claiming my first place ribbon. That paper still hangs on my walls today, reminding me of the importance that writing has to expose coherent logic and understanding behind otherwise broken thoughts. More importantly however, it gave a quite, young girl a voice she would use for rest of her life, and a reminder that writing is much more than words on a paper.
From an early age, I personally defined writing as an expression of structured thoughts and ideas to convey a concept or viewpoint. From the time I first began writing and throughout my standardized education, I thought of writing only as formalized pieces of information, essays, and articles. However, since escaping the chains of writing in a standardized English classroom, I have found that writing is and means a lot more than typing up a paper for a grade. Writing is expression, writing can be the movement of your soul onto paper, in a poem, or in drawing. Writing can be music, a Beethoven symphony, embellished with original artistic style from the musician to express a feeling or sentiment. Writing is art, sculptures, paintings, and ceramics. It is communication of feeling through visual cues that, often more than words, paint emotions and atmosphere. Writing is cavemen painting with tools of nature, or Egyptians formalizing their own figural alphabet. From my amazing English professors at the University of Louisville, I have been reminded that writing can be whatever you want it to be, it just has to be you. Even though the formal definition of what writing is or is not has evolved and changed with time and technology, precedent illustrates how writing has come to mean many things and will continue to change, as I have.
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| Natasha in her kindergarten class |
I haven’t always had the best experience with writing. Just as there are good teachers of writing, there are plenty of bad ones that push students in one direction and enforce a strict idea of what is good and bad writing. Growing up in many different writing environments, I have learned that I best write when given constructive criticism and peer review. When several eyes see the work I have done and think about it in a different and distinctive way, there are countless doors to countless ideas opened to make my paper better. Unfortunately, I have also been in a classroom setting where the teacher is the only eyes on my paper and offers no feedback except for dripping red ink from slash marks all over the pages. As a young writer, nothing is more discouraging than to see a mentor take no interest in the thoughts you have to share in your work. In such ignorance, my biggest challenge as a writer comes to fruition -- a fear of being a bad writer. Sometimes being afraid of bad writing has inhibited my ability to write at all. In times like these, a ‘word vomit’ writing session usually helps me get back on my feet and stir my creative juices.
Word vomiting is a technique I was taught by my college freshman roommate who ran a poetry workshop for young students. After having a bad experience with a teacher in high school, I was afraid the quality of my writing would deteriorate as my confidence did, but I was reinvigorated with new energy for writing and expression. I have seen my writing grow and change since then. I see myself writing in a more abstract way, being more descriptive and using colorful language. Sometimes I fear that my language may be too abstract and loses content with overly descriptive details. I hope as my writing grows and evolves throughout my education, I am able to solidify a stagnant high level of writing.
I am aware that my abstract language use stems from being a regular recreational writer. I began writing in my free time less than a two years ago after the death of my life’s biggest role model, Muhammad Ali. As a young adolescent, incessantly bullied for the color of my skin, I turned to Ali for the strength and courage to stand up to my oppressors through the same approach he applied. After his passing, I realized that I have never appropriately experienced and worked through the death of a loved one or individual I care for deeply. Recreational writing became my emotional outlet and I am grateful everyday for the friend that showed me a new way of writing and expression. The amazing concept of recreational writing is that is can be done anywhere, at anytime, and with anyone. My favorite place to compose a piece is sitting atop Dog Hill in Cherokee Park with a pen and my journal. Once a week, I make the trek up to my favorite spot, write a few words or maybe a sonnet, and then eventually I head back to the real world where my thoughts are strictly internalized.
Sometimes even still, I take writing with me to school, finding time for a quick read in my favorite Audre Lorde poetry collections. Even Maya Angelou has a way of inspiring my faith in the world the way fiction writing never could. Even though I am not a published recreational writer yet, I someday hope to be finding my work displayed as a motivational quote on someone’s wall, making their day better and making the world a little brighter. I am proud, however, that several of my other works have. The first publication I was awarded was my Junior year of high school. I was a member of the Muhammad Ali Center Council of students, a social justice program for socially and politically engaged students, and we were encouraged to write opinionated editorials for the Courier Journal. My first publication created a chain reaction of published works in the CJ – from advocating on behalf of homeless youth, to supporting LGBTQ rights in Kentucky, I have been published a total of four times in the newspaper.
No doubt will I continue on my path of public vocalization with opinion editorials in the newspaper and other forms of expressive writing. As a civically engaged individual, an educated college student, and a political science major, writing in my discipline has come to fruition through my published works in the newspaper and beyond. I have been able to fully express myself through the knowledge I have acquired and the opinions I have developed to create a coherent stream of thought that makes readers think a different way. At the end of the day, I would like to believe that my thoughts, either written or spoken, have changed someone’s life, made them think differently, and encouraged them to treat others better. Abstractly or professionally, writing has intersected every aspect of my current career as it is and as it will be. I aspire to be published nationally and internationally, writing policy, and using my words to give a voice to those who do not have one.
I will never forget the words of my kindergarten teacher, when I sat down to write my first piece of writing in kindergarten for a Halloween project. As a young and timid introvert, I was hesitant to pair my brain and words to speak, let alone write stories to be displayed in school. I stressed over the idea of being a flawless writer, refusing to let the pencil hit paper before a perfect thought entered my mind. That’s when my teacher kneeled beside me and reminded me, “Natasha, always remember, your writing is who you are.” At the time, I didn’t understand the gravity of her words, but they have lived in me from that day forward.
Even though I didn’t truly know, I began to understand that my words, whatever they were, were my own, original, and thoughtful creations that show the world who I am. The moment my kindergarten teacher collected my work that day, her eyes wide with surprise and awe, I knew I would have a future writing to an audience. “There was darkness upon us,” she read my paper aloud, “and midnight was arising. That’s when the creepy ghouls would come out to play with the children of the night.” I will never forget standing in front of my class claiming my first place ribbon. That paper still hangs on my walls today, reminding me of the importance that writing has to expose coherent logic and understanding behind otherwise broken thoughts. More importantly however, it gave a quite, young girl a voice she would use for rest of her life, and a reminder that writing is much more than words on a paper.
From an early age, I personally defined writing as an expression of structured thoughts and ideas to convey a concept or viewpoint. From the time I first began writing and throughout my standardized education, I thought of writing only as formalized pieces of information, essays, and articles. However, since escaping the chains of writing in a standardized English classroom, I have found that writing is and means a lot more than typing up a paper for a grade. Writing is expression, writing can be the movement of your soul onto paper, in a poem, or in drawing. Writing can be music, a Beethoven symphony, embellished with original artistic style from the musician to express a feeling or sentiment. Writing is art, sculptures, paintings, and ceramics. It is communication of feeling through visual cues that, often more than words, paint emotions and atmosphere. Writing is cavemen painting with tools of nature, or Egyptians formalizing their own figural alphabet. From my amazing English professors at the University of Louisville, I have been reminded that writing can be whatever you want it to be, it just has to be you. Even though the formal definition of what writing is or is not has evolved and changed with time and technology, precedent illustrates how writing has come to mean many things and will continue to change, as I have.
I haven’t always had the best experience with writing. Just as there are good teachers of writing, there are plenty of bad ones that push students in one direction and enforce a strict idea of what is good and bad writing. Growing up in many different writing environments, I have learned that I best write when given constructive criticism and peer review. When several eyes see the work I have done and think about it in a different and distinctive way, there are countless doors to countless ideas opened to make my paper better. Unfortunately, I have also been in a classroom setting where the teacher is the only eyes on my paper and offers no feedback except for dripping red ink from slash marks all over the pages. As a young writer, nothing is more discouraging than to see a mentor take no interest in the thoughts you have to share in your work. In such ignorance, my biggest challenge as a writer comes to fruition -- a fear of being a bad writer. Sometimes being afraid of bad writing has inhibited my ability to write at all. In times like these, a ‘word vomit’ writing session usually helps me get back on my feet and stir my creative juices.
Word vomiting is a technique I was taught by my college freshman roommate who ran a poetry workshop for young students. After having a bad experience with a teacher in high school, I was afraid the quality of my writing would deteriorate as my confidence did, but I was reinvigorated with new energy for writing and expression. I have seen my writing grow and change since then. I see myself writing in a more abstract way, being more descriptive and using colorful language. Sometimes I fear that my language may be too abstract and loses content with overly descriptive details. I hope as my writing grows and evolves throughout my education, I am able to solidify a stagnant high level of writing.
I am aware that my abstract language use stems from being a regular recreational writer. I began writing in my free time less than a two years ago after the death of my life’s biggest role model, Muhammad Ali. As a young adolescent, incessantly bullied for the color of my skin, I turned to Ali for the strength and courage to stand up to my oppressors through the same approach he applied. After his passing, I realized that I have never appropriately experienced and worked through the death of a loved one or individual I care for deeply. Recreational writing became my emotional outlet and I am grateful everyday for the friend that showed me a new way of writing and expression. The amazing concept of recreational writing is that is can be done anywhere, at anytime, and with anyone. My favorite place to compose a piece is sitting atop Dog Hill in Cherokee Park with a pen and my journal. Once a week, I make the trek up to my favorite spot, write a few words or maybe a sonnet, and then eventually I head back to the real world where my thoughts are strictly internalized.
Sometimes even still, I take writing with me to school, finding time for a quick read in my favorite Audre Lorde poetry collections. Even Maya Angelou has a way of inspiring my faith in the world the way fiction writing never could. Even though I am not a published recreational writer yet, I someday hope to be finding my work displayed as a motivational quote on someone’s wall, making their day better and making the world a little brighter. I am proud, however, that several of my other works have. The first publication I was awarded was my Junior year of high school. I was a member of the Muhammad Ali Center Council of students, a social justice program for socially and politically engaged students, and we were encouraged to write opinionated editorials for the Courier Journal. My first publication created a chain reaction of published works in the CJ – from advocating on behalf of homeless youth, to supporting LGBTQ rights in Kentucky, I have been published a total of four times in the newspaper.
No doubt will I continue on my path of public vocalization with opinion editorials in the newspaper and other forms of expressive writing. As a civically engaged individual, an educated college student, and a political science major, writing in my discipline has come to fruition through my published works in the newspaper and beyond. I have been able to fully express myself through the knowledge I have acquired and the opinions I have developed to create a coherent stream of thought that makes readers think a different way. At the end of the day, I would like to believe that my thoughts, either written or spoken, have changed someone’s life, made them think differently, and encouraged them to treat others better. Abstractly or professionally, writing has intersected every aspect of my current career as it is and as it will be. I aspire to be published nationally and internationally, writing policy, and using my words to give a voice to those who do not have one.
Natasha Mundkur, of Louisville, Ky., is a sophomore McConnell Scholar studying business, marketing, political science and Spanish.