Poetry and Me by Rosette

Poetry and Me by Rosette - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

            Learning how to interpret poetry was the most interesting lesson that I have learned in a class.  Prior to this, I was always nervous about understanding poems. I always dreaded the day when I had to take any required course involving poetry.
             When I was first exposed to the world of poems in elementary school, I had no interest in it at all.  It did not make sense to me.  Too many words were missing, some sentences were incomplete, and some were just random words and phrases.  I was confused by all these irregular things.  I did not understand poems, and it made me nervous.  After that, I avoided poems for as long as I could.
             The day finally came when I had to face one of my deepest fears.  It happened in middle school.  My English teacher introduced the class to a new chapter.  We were going to study poetry over the course of several weeks.  Needless to say, I was terrified.  I always strive to maintain good grades in all of my subjects; and in my mind, this was going to ruin my track record and bring my grade down.  I was hesitant to even pick up a poetry book.  It was like what kryptonite is to Superman.  Knowing that this class was very important to me, I quickly adjusted my thoughts and tried to relax.  I kept an open-mind and immersed myself into the subject.  To my surprise, by the end of the chapter I was in love with poetry. I was fascinated with how you can put words together in certain orders to develop beautiful ideas.  You can arrange and rearrange words to come up with different meanings.  It was like creating a piece of art.  Also, when I realized that lyrics of songs can be considered poetry it amazed me. Being a lover of music I quickly jumped right in and started writing poetry of all types. Sharing them with my parents and getting positive feedback pushed me to continue writing more. I still continue to use the creation of poetry as a creative outlet to express myself.
             After taking this class, I’ve learned that poetry in most cases is not difficult and hard to understand.  Sometimes it can be quite simple, once it is broken down and interpreted correctly.  Poetry is fun and interesting. Overall I am happy that I got the chance to face my fear and learn poetry. I would have never known how much I enjoy it if it wasn’t for that English class in Middle school. I am thankful that I was able to explore this part of English because it allows me to express myself in a way that I would not have before.