Throughout high school writing was one of my least favorite subjects. The readings we were assigned to analyze, like ones by Shakespeare and Steinbeck, were particularly difficult for me to decipher and so I had trouble finding meaning in them. I dreaded writing essays and answering questions about the text for fear I’d be interpreting it the wrong way. As a result, English became more and more of a class I needed to check off the list than a voluntary subject of interest. It soon became synonymous with frustration.

Entering college, I knew I’d be challenged further having to take lower and upper division writing courses. In high school, students were told that college professors would expect college-level work, and I was afraid of being less than mediocre as I never considered writing to be my strong suit. For this reason, I hoped to postpone this class as much as possible. I ended up dropping Writing 37 first quarter following syllabus day assuming it’d be too heavy of a workload. The thought of an essay per week was unfathomable, and I just didn’t have the motivation. But, when the quarter ended, I figured it’d be better just to get the class over with. So here I am!

***Disclaimer: I do love to write, though! I find there’s something so profound about articulating thoughts into coherent sentences and being able to connect with the reader on a deeper level. One of my goals has always been to convey my thoughts eloquently and effectively to establish that connection. It’s something I’ve always admired but could never fully master.

I remember when I first learned science fiction was our theme. In all honesty, it didn’t appeal to me at first, but after reading our first short story, “The Cold Equations,” I was automatically hooked. Never before have I read a short story so enticing and memorable. I liked how mysterious it was and highly anticipated our next class meeting to discuss it, and this quickly became a regular thing. Every week when we were assigned short stories or a film to examine, I was left with questions that I knew would be answered during our class period. However, I realize what our professor, Loren’s goal is for us as writers: he wants us to be able to pick out those seemingly minor details in the text that one may normally skim over and inspect them under a microscope so that when we don’t have a professor there to guide us, we would be confident in our knowledge and understanding. He wants us to ask ourselves why those details were important and find value behind them. What do they signify? Why would the author choose to involve them? Why does it ultimately matter? When he asked these questions, soon enough, every detail became powerful. Stories unveiled more stories that spoke of history and opinion, that criticized the mainstream and posted warning signs for the future. These messages were not written but implied, and it was our job to discover them.

After being enrolled in this class, I can already notice a difference in my approach to assignments. Before Writing 37, I relied on the generic five-paragraph essay format because it’s all I’ve ever known. High school english classes taught me how to construct an average paper, but failed to teach me how to stand out as a writer amongst a sea of talented individuals. Consequently, I found it tough to fill my paragraphs with meaningful information and would often just restate my ideas in different ways to fill the page, but this class has definitely improved my writing skills. I have become a more critical thinker, sophisticated reader, and flexible writer. For example, before this class I never would’ve guessed that “Walking Awake” could be connected to racial oppression. I probably wouldn’t be able to find meaning behind “Hinterlands.” Overall, I’ve learned that it is important to investigate everything, right down to the author themself. And by doing so, the story becomes much more interesting than it would have been at first glance.

I credit a huge amount of my progression to class lectures and separate group discussions; they have heavily influenced my writing. Loren’s plethora of questions about the readings spur thought and enhance my ability to create those questions for myself. Hearing my fellow colleagues’ input and reading their writing have also led me to consider multiple perspectives, not just my own. Having said that, there are still areas in my writing that need work. I need to not be redundant, omit parts of my writing that are irrelevant to my thesis, and tighten everything up to create a more focused, well-developed writing style. These are things I will continue to strive toward throughout the quarter and beyond.

It's motivating to see the development and improvement in my writing throughout this course. I hope that in my future endeavors I'll be able to remember and utilize the skills I have learned here. Because of Writing 37, I view science fiction in a new manner and am excited to see how it stumbles into my life later on. I leave this class confident knowing that I am armed with the capability to decode books, movies, and anything really. Of course, I have not perfected everything, there is still much room for improvement, but I am content for now knowing that this class has laid the groundwork for my coming tasks.

During our final class session, Loren gave us ways to apply science fiction to modern crises. The topics we discussed and the questions he raised were captivating and stirring at the same time because they were real-life scenarios that could happen in years to come. For example in class, aliens and wacky futuristic designs were proposed, and subsequently the class laughed because it seems unrealistic and nonsensical, but then one takes a moment to think and asks themselves, "what if?" And the idea quickly becomes conceivable. Based off of how far society has come, no one can predict what the future holds, so we must ask what will happen if the effects of climate change arise, or what will college look like one century from now? If we start by imagining people, than we can have a taste of that future and decide whether it's something we want society to move towards or stray from. All in all, I have learned that science fiction is a lens that helps humans peer into the future.

"It gives us a way of imagining our lives, the same, but different." -Loren Eason