The University of West Georgia hosted an English research conference on the 21st. At the conference, various panels are set up where students and researchers can present pieces of writing they have created. I had the honor of being selected by my teacher Mrs. Hook to be on one of the panels. This was based on the work I had done on my higher-level essay up to that point.
Other than myself, my friends Mary and Caro were to be part of the panel. I was excited about the opportunity, but also stressed about finishing my essay (as we found out about the conference very last minute) and about having to speak in front of a crowd.
In order to have my essay ready I worked with my peers and Mrs. Hook, all of us pulling multiple all-nighters. We were tired, stressed, and kind of miserable, but we ended up getting all of our essays done.
The day of the conference was very nerve-wracking. The first panel I attended was about literature centered around criminals. It shed some light on the psychology of a killer and related it to gender and masculinity. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the panel, and also a bit insecure about my own eventual performance.
I scoffed down some food during lunch and skipped the second panel in order to practice reading my essay. The clock slowly ticked and eventually, the second panel was getting out. I found my group before heading to the room where our panel would take place. We moved some chairs to our table in the front of the room and sat down, all of us cracking some jokes because of our nerves.
Time kept ticking, and so far the only people attending our panel were from our class. Finally, Mrs. Hook closed the door. No one came to our panel.
It was certainly disheartening, but I also still had a good experience. I was able to write a good essay with the help of my peers and teacher, I practiced some public speaking, and I was able to attend a college-level conference, giving me some insight to my future.
The Cons of Writing 