Imagine a World... by Lauren

Imagine a World... by Lauren - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

Imagine a world where one can face reality without feeling embarrassed, nervous, or scared. Imagine being able to live in a magical realm where spells and sorcery make life fun and easy. Imagine living in a dystopian era where you can understand starvation and desperation without the physical and emotional pains. The truth is, anyone can imagine these things with the help of literature. Literature allows a person to travel into a different world or reality where that individual is not the one taking risks; the individual is simply along for the ride, experiencing the fear, embarrassment, and beauty from a safe place. Teaching adolescent literature would give me the chance to use this safe place as an outlet to teach literature to students and have them apply important aspects to their own lives.
An adolescent literature class would give the professor the freedom to take his or her students on incredible adventures all from the safety of the classroom. Students could experience the reality of murder in "The Outsiders", feel a broken heart with "Stargirl", or experience awkward puberty in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". Adolescent Literature has the power to show students parts of the world that may have been tabooed earlier in life. This kind of literature shows various ways in which countless situations can be handled. Some characters handle things in the correct way, while others do not. A student could compare, contrast, analyze, and evaluate how to approach similar situations in his or her own life. Being able to teach these strategies and explore the options would allow me, as a professor, the chance to positively impact the students in my class.
Understanding diverse realities is something that many people struggle with today. There are so many cultures putting each other down because one does not understand the other. Literature cannot fully compensate for the lack of experience of growing up in a culture, but it can form a bridge that promotes the quest for understanding. For example, "Esperanza Rising" is a great Adolescent novel that shows the reality of a young Mexican girl as she journeys to the United States. "Farewell to Manzanar" is the story of a young Japanese girl living in America during World War II. These are just two stories of millions that show various cultures and hardships. Being able to teach the stories about these diverse cultures and experiences would allow me the chance to connect with the students in my class and hopefully allow them to open up about their own diversities.
In conclusion, if I were a professor, an adolescent literature class would be my instructing choice. Being able to help students explore how to handle a wide range of situations and help them open up about their personal backgrounds and hardships would be both exciting and beneficial for all persons involved. The hope would be for students to take away a mind that is keen on how to handle all types of circumstances while remaining conscious and considerate of the differing opinions and lifestyles in this world.