Puzzling Patience
June 22, 2008 — Ms. Beauchamp(Written at the UPWP kickoff 2006!)
We have heard many reference the writing project as a life changing event. It is a transformation of sorts. I wrote at the end of my summer experience last year, “It was the best thing I did for MYSELF in a long time.” Life moves at a fast pace. Changes occur and force us to reevaluate who we are, what we want. Writing is deeply personal. It can be a vehicle for self-reflection. For me, last summer gave me the opportunity to look at my life, to look inside myself, to reflect upon all that life had thrown my way in my 34 years. The pieces I chose, while I hope not as a legacy, but perhaps as more of a life lesson, are a random puzzle piece and my word rock which simply reads patience.
The puzzle piece represents the many things in life we must figure out, the twisting and turning of the pieces to fit into the bigger picture.
The word rock…one of Jan’s famous lessons…
I have taught writing for 20 years, and had taught it blind until the Writing Project. Until I wrote with my peers and truly experienced what it felt like to be a writer, I didn’t fully understand how my first graders felt.
–Marsha Page May 13, 2006
