It sounds crazy I know, but I originally chose this Major because of how much I love books. If you know anything at all about me, you know how big a role reading plays in my life.

I'm literally always consuming at least 3 books at any given time: one audiobook for my daily commute, a print book for when I have a spare moment to myself, and whatever book I'm reading for my classes. So, being made to write a few poems and a couple of short stories seemed like a fair enough trade to me.

All I had to do was crank out a few pieces and I would be able to read for a grade. However, after my very first creative writing course, I began to realize something; USF has an AMAZING creative writing program. There truly are some amazing writers at this school and even better professors.

While I sit in these classes, greedily reading every story that came my way, a funny thing started happening, I started to learn. I was reading all of these pieces, about 4 or 5 stories or poems a night, but I was also being asked to think about what worked and what didn't.

Not only was I critically reflecting on the piece, I also had to articulate why I did or did not like something. In short, I was learning what made for good storytelling and what didn't. Slowly but surely, my writing transformed from something I did just to fulfill a requirement into something I took time to think about, and carefully craft. Poetry became more than just rhyming words at the end of sentences. By my senior year, I was sitting in my bedroom reading poems aloud over and over. I even had my roommates and friends reading my drafts aloud, just to make sure the poem I was working on carried all the sounds I was looking to convey.

Now, writing for me is more than just telling a story, it's a game of cat and mouse you play with your reader. Telling them enough to keep them hooked, but not too much that they already know how the story will end before it ever begins. I can honestly say I've worked harder, and learned more about myself in these classes than in any other class I've taken at USF.

I write all this to say, if you haven't taken a creative writing class, try it and see what you learn about yourself. *Inserts shameless plug for USF's Creative Writing Program*