One of the things about high school is how much it can shape your life- for better or for worse. Luckily for me, most of the influences I’ve had there have been positive. Especially my teachers! My high school writing teacher, especially, taught me a lot. We called her Welker-sensei, her last name combined with the respectful Japanese title of “teacher.”
She taught me a lot of things that still influence my writing today, both creative and academic. I believe she’s the reason that my writing was at a college level in my later high school years. One of the things that she taught me about essays that helped me particularly was the “so what?” question. Before her class, I would blissfully churn out essays because they were assigned, and not offer any good reason towards why my conclusion actually mattered. But thanks to her teaching, I try to keep my writing in a perspective, and find at least something small that matters in each essay I write.
Welker-sensei also helped with my creative writing- specifically, my sense of story, and how to come to a concise end. One of my favorite and least favorite projects that we did my senior year was a creative writing assignment. We had to write a complete short story, with a beginning, middle and ending. However, the problem was that it was limited to only 8 pages. As a writer, this was devastating. My first draft, I had barely finished introducing the characters before I reached the page limit. With advice from my teacher, I had to find a way to whittle it down and find a satisfying ending. I personally didn’t think I did well enough, but I did learn some things, and I got a good grade on it because Welker-sensei saw the progression of my story and how much I learned.
She is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, and honestly I miss her. But her influence is still with me in every paper or story that I write, and I know that the things she’s taught me will continue to come in handy.
Writing Wizard 