A Young Reader's Introduction to American Folklore by Abigayle

A Young Reader's Introduction to American Folklore by Abigayle - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

When my mother was in her early 30’s, she decided to go back to school to get her Master’s degree in English, and so our already busy home was made even busier. Almost everyone was in school, homework was in near constant mention in conversations, and our already full bookshelves were practically bursting at the seams by the end of her two years. She quickly became an adjunct professor and, a few years after receiving her Master’s, she decided to go back to school to get a PHD. Once again, our house was constantly bustling with activity, except this time with slightly older children and two new ones.

As a young girl watching this unfold, I couldn’t have been more delighted. I had always taken after my mother when it came to schooling with a particular affinity for English. I had been reading for as long as I could remember, anything I could get my hands on, so with all of my mother’s new books coming in that she was reading for school, I was a very happy camper. I loved reading the books she had finished with and, and couldn’t have been more pleased to sit and listen to her talk about her professors or her most recent essay scores or what classes she was taking that semester. My favorite class I ever heard her talk about though was her American Folklore class.

The stories she read for it were absolutely fascinating and I especially loved the modern-day takes that were thrown in there. I voraciously devoured fantasy books as a child, so reading all about the monsters, myths, and urban legends as a young teenager was a nice “blast from the past” for me, and really helped draw me back into the world of literature.

If I were to ever become a college professor, an American Folklore class would be what I would want to teach. The subject and social implications behind it are fascinating to study and I would obviously want to enjoy the subject I taught. Not to mention being able to introduce people to new types of stories and history would be a super amazing opportunity, not only for the students, but for me as a professor as well.