Writing poems was one thing I enjoyed doing since it was introduced to me in grade 7. It’s my current goal to publish a book. I write to pour my emotions onto the paper, it lets me express myself in a better way. Writing poems is like an exercise for my brain, it also helps me boost my confidence. I have been writing since I was 12 but I have never made it public, perhaps because I feared people judging me. However, in grade 11 CAS gave me a chance to take a stand and fight my fear. I published my poem in the school magazine;Racontore, participated in the school’s poetry event (Monsoon Musings), shared them in the literature club and posted my poems on Instagram. The learning outcomes that I achieved were LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4.
LO 1: Pondering upon my strengths I realized that I could write beautiful poems not just in English but in Hindi as well. I tried written poems in Hindi and it turns out I could express myself equally easily as in the English language, I only used to write poems that rhymed, I realized it was my weakness that I couldn’t write poems without any rhymes in it. I soon realized somehow it lost the real meaning which I aimed to convey. So I started focusing on convey the meaning as my primary focus and soon after practic of weeks and number of poems I mastered the skill of writing poems whose meaning is intact with or without rhymes in it. Realizing my weakness and working hard to overcome it boosted my confidence.
LO 2: Being an introvert it’s very difficult for me to face people, which is the reason why I have never publicized or published my work. It was quite difficult for me to go up to the stage and recite my poem (in Monsoon Musings). But of course, I had to step out of my comfort zone once, I did it here. It was quite challenging, as I mention above I feared people’s judgment. My poems did get criticized (it was positive most of the time but there were negative too) a few time but that encouraged me to not quit and improve my writing skills, leaving no room to get criticized again. I wrote more poems, keeping in mind people’s suggestions and comments and got better at writing. I feel proud of taking it this challenge as it made me realized that I have the capability of overcoming my fear and weaknesses. It also taught me to not stop writing(because of criticism) and to stop worrying about what people said/thought.
LO 3: I have always been an organized person. I usually schedule things beforehand. But writing poems isn’t a subject to be learned. I didn’t set any particular time for writing because ideas don’t flow at any particular time. Thus I always carried a little diary around. I wrote in my free slot and mostly in bus rides to home. Looking at the green bushes and blue sky from the bus ride home inspired me the most, ideas flowed like running water downhill. This didn’t hamper my studies parallelly I was able to achieve my goal or at least writing three poems a week.
LO 4: Being organized helps me to be committed and persistent to things most of the time. It was difficult to write 3 poems a week as I had never taken up a task like that before, but time was the answer and now I am able to write 3 poems in a week, easily. My goal in publishing a book kept me committed to this task.
I learned that I should always do what I want to so no matter what people say or think. I should keep reflecting upon my strengths and weaknesses, it anyways helps a people in one way or the other.
Monsoon Musings
