Oh “I” how I Hate You So.

The word “I” has caused me so many mental breakdowns when it comes to writing papers that it makes me want to explode. It’s been ingrained in my head that using the word “I” was forbidden to use and if you did then your paper was basically garbage. Then college came around and every English professor all of sudden were telling me it’s okay to use the word “I”. I still held back on using it and some of the professors, while they liked my essays, they would always tell me, “I want to hear your thoughts about this topic not anyone else’s” and I would just simply nod my head and ignore their advice. It was not until I took a class recently that I finally gave in and used the word “I” and even though it made me feel like my writing was complete trash, it also felt kind of good. Did I think that my paper was going to fail and get a horrible grade? Yeah, but all those fears went away when my professor told me she liked it and was proud that I was able to express myself in my writing. Sister Molly Heine writes, “By speaking up, being present and known in your writing does not mean only using the first person. You can be present in your writing in more ways than just using the first person”. I agree with her, right now while I am using the word “I”, I also try to maintain being able to express myself and opinions without having other voices hide mine. It’s something that I have been working on and it’s going to take its time, but I’m willing to make it work.

Related posts:

First-person is important! Maintaining Literacy Week 3: Writing the Right Words The Importance of Individualizing Your Writing