Letter of Introduction

I loved English throughout high school. I had many great English teachers that made me think diligently about even changing my major. From those years, a few selected readings stand out. Some I liked, others were just not my taste. One descriptive short story that remains in my mind is that of William Manchester, "Blood That Never Dried". I loved this writing. The adjective use jumped from the page as if you were fighting the war yourself. I also liked Tennessee William's "Street Car Named Desire". It pleases me to see that we will be reading more of his work this semester. My favorite memoir is that of James McBride entitled The Color of Water in which he describes his life as the son of a Jewish mother and black father in Harlem. "Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau is a classic in my eyes considering I spent a month justifying it on my debate team. Other books and short stories like The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy and "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell, I could have done without. For the most part, I enjoy and appreciate all kinds of writing and would at least consider reading anything.
As far as writing is concerned, I have written everything from haiku poems to research papers. I have also entered a few poetry contests here and there because I feel like my writing is a little different, a little out of the box. I am fortunate that I have had great teachers to help me shape my writing style. My writing of essays and poems has helped me earn quite a bit of money to put towards my Clemson education. I help my sister, a self-proclaimed rapper, with some of her raps just for fun, and I am known to occasionally rant on my facebook status or notes. I have just joined twitter, which I feel was made just for me to talk about random facts of life. I do not see this as a persona, it is just my way of speaking to the world, making myself feel that I am a little more important.
Not saying that I do not appreciate the works of authors before the second World War, but I would much rather read the controversial and contemporary works of the 20th and 21st centuries. I find that these topics are easily debatable which helps me in my political science major. Having parents that are immigrants heavily influences my ideologies and my writing. Like everyone else, I have had different, dramatic life experiences that effect the way I think, which in turn, effect the way I write and read.
Below in my poem entitled "Focus", I describe my first semester at Clemson which was not the university of choice. I show how a typical first semester student manages a roommate situation, parties,the ability to concentrate on priorities, and understanding the new world in which he or she was just placed. I hope you like it.


"Focus"
August: Crushed dreams of not attending Emory or UNC-Chapel Hill. Extreme conservatives that wear orange and purple. Roommate with anti-Obama shirt. Her dad is a farmer. My dad a club owner. Time. Long time. Four years. Focus!
September: Not that bad. Political science class is kicking my butt. Time. Long time. Lifetime. College is not that hard. Focus.
October: Nupetober equals bad gpa. Fall break. Focus?
November: More class. Finals soon? Thanksgiving, yes! Christmastime. What happened to focus?
December: FINALS! Not comprehensive, okay that works. No time. Did I focus?
January: That gpa shows that I did not focus. Time's up. Three and a half more to go. Must do better. Must focus!
-brenda adimora.