Thursday, September 25, 2014

Meeting Our Students Needs - A “Not-So” Passion

The 8th Grade Language Arts Department at Hilliard Weaver Middle School in Hilliard, OH is working with their students in the creation of blogs. The goal is to expose students to yet another platform to share their writing. Many students have embraced this opportunity. And some, like Emma, are truly finding that their talents go far beyond the stroke of keys on the computer. Furthermore, they have a stage to share their opinions, respectfully, to their teachers. Please enjoy this guest post:

Emma Fullen is a passionate writer in the eighth grade. She goes to school at Hilliard Weaver Middle School and enjoys every last bit of it from the exceptional teachers to the brand new best friends she has made. Outside of school, Emma acts, sings, and soaks up every bit of anything she can get her hands on. She aspires to be an actress/director, a teacher, a journalist, a photographer (and the list goes on…) when she grows up. Her full blog page can be found at: http://emmafullen.wix.com/busy-bee


Here is her most recent post:


A “Not-So” Passion


This blog post is based solely on my "not-so" passion. A "not-so" passion is what I like to call something that I want to do and when I get offered the chance to do such a thing,  I take it but, I hardly get those opportunities.
That "something" I'm referring to would be theatrical directing. I have all these ideas swimming around my head and (don't blame me, but) I really like telling people what to do... It's just a fact. I think it would be something that comes naturally to me. I'm generally a "leader type" (says, like, everybody) and thats a role to take up with directing. A problem with this, though, is you always see acting classes but you never ever see director classes, because you obviously need a director to direct you and tell you how to direct and you can't do that if you're learning to direct... right?
I've gotten opportunities to be assistant director but those plays are with professional theatres and I don't do much because I’m not trained in the area. But hey, there’s a first time for everything, so I’m told, even if that first time isn’t now, It’ll come soon, I’m pretty sure.
There may or may not be other people like me, and I am totally for where my school is heading, but they may be missing something. Instead of JUST writing about our passions, why don’t we write about what we want to do? Directing isn't (technically) a passion, but it’s something I’d like to set my heart to, something I want to be my passion. Ted-Ed club is fantastic, but is it just another Public Speaking class? And same goes with the Optimist Oratorical Competition. Both are (so I’ve heard) great, yet,  I’ve never done either because of the school play. Let’s mix it up!
Let’s make our “not-so” passions, something generations below us will look up to. In other words:
Let’s do stuff.
Until next time,
Emma

2 comments:

  1. I love your passion, and I was once an 8th grader with the same aspirations as you. What I've learned is that every opportunity to be a part of a production teaches me valuable skills that I used as a director -- what to do, what not to do, a different way to look at things, etc. So listen. Embrace. Love it. Offer to help. Learn. Your time will come. It's worth the struggle to do what you love. Have a great day, Emma!

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  2. We need more young minds to think as you do, Emma!

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