As I entered into my freshman year of college, I was worried about a ton of things. Would I get along with my roommates? Did I pack enough stuff? Did I pack too much? Would I drown in schoolwork and have an emotional meltdown? What would I do with my newfound independence?
Before college, I thought my problems would be that of all the "college students" I saw in movies and on TV. However, the biggest struggle I've encountered has nothing to do with making new friends, wearing shower shoes, or eating dining hall food. It has to do with writing.
As most young adults do, I write every day. I write tweets, Facebook posts, and text messages. Every single day, I formulate words and phrases to express my thoughts and daily actions. And yet, when my English professor assigned us to write a literacy narrative and I sat in front of my computer to write it, my mind went blank.
An essay we had read earlier that week detailed a phony language that students use called "Engfish." A language that students think teachers want to hear. A language I knew all too well. A language full of lengthy words and phrases that sound nothing like normal human conversation.
We spend all of high school using thesaurus.com to find the perfect adjectives for our papers, cranking out essays the night before it's due date. We have a template etched into our brains of what a "good" essay sounds and looks like. And teachers rewarded us for it. An "A" for every essay that fit the specified guidelines.
So, when my teacher asked me to write freely and use my "nature voice," I felt lost. All I knew was what I had been conditioned to believe was good writing. When, in fact, it was crappy writing dressed up in 50 cent words.
Luckily, college isn't a rerun of high school. You have the freedom to try new styles of writings and work your natural voice into every piece of writing you pen. Professors in college don't want the same essay written slightly different ways ten times throughout the semester. They'll call you out on "phony" writing because they know you have more than a template within you.
College isn't the place for phony writing languages. Anybody can sound stiff and intellectual, with the help of the internet. Nobody can have your original, genuine voice, except yourself. Don't let "Engfish" ruin your college writing career. Write as you speak. That's good writing.
