Letter Of Intent Analysis

Superior Essays
MUW Letter of Intent There’s no power quite like that of having a community. It’s what gives us a sense of identity, it’s a source of love and support, it makes us feel safe in the world. In caveman days, without our clan we were as good as dead with the elements, sabertooth tigers, and limited resources working against us. In today’s world we have more cushioning to survive physically without a clan, but we still need them just as much psychologically and emotionally. An individual rose has beauty, but a bush of roses has protection and livelihood. Likewise, as individuals we are beautiful, but together we are strong. Before I could even hold a pencil I was dictating stories to my mother for her to write down. From elementary school on, my teachers fawned over my writing and encouraged me to pursue a career in it. Despite the support of my teachers, as a queer butch woman, I haven’t always felt accepted in my life. I never really fit in with my peers as a child; I was always too chubby, drawing cats and trying to make my Barbie doll kiss other little girls’ Barbie dolls. It only got worse in middle school when my friends began to develop breasts and changing time in the locker room during PE became a living nightmare. Middle school was also the first time I got published. It was announced in my English class that the school district was hosting a writing contest for Mother’s Day, and the winners were awarded jewelry for their mothers. I desperately wanted to win, but, naturally, forgot all about it until the day of the deadline. Panicked, I jotted down a quick poem on a scrap piece of paper and turned it in. Two weeks later the winners were announced- I had won third place, my poem was printed in a book of poetry and my mother got a beautiful garnet ring. In high school I found some refuge at the Orange County School of the Arts, an award-winning school that is an oasis that attracted both the weird and the queer. Among other artists and homosexuals I was able to set down some roots as a Creative Writing student. During regular school hours I learned the typical high school curriculum; but at 2 pm conservatory started, and I took college-level classes with critically acclaimed authors such as James P. Blaylock and Tim Powers as my mentors. It was there that I found my voice and was published for the second time, this time in OCSA’s critically acclaimed literary journal Inkblot. However, since high school, I was thrown back into the world of normies and it’s been difficult for me to find a place where I feel I belong. This past summer I was given the opportunity to attend the 40th and final year of Michigan Women’s Music Festival. Situated in the middle of nowhere in Michigan, it’s a festival built entirely by women, for women. The …show more content…
Whenever I’m feeling alone or unheard, I have friends I know I can reach out to. Everyone deserves to have a sense of community, to have people who they feel understood by. In Western society, the white straight male is treated as the default, and the further you are from that identity the more marginalized you are, and the less there is for you. To survive in this world it’s important that we band together and fight for space not just for ourselves but for all of our sisters. I know how isolated I have felt as a queer white woman, and can only imagine and listen to the experiences of others with even more marginalized identities than my own. I have spent much of my life feeling lonely; I want people who read my work to feel seen and understood. I attended UC Riverside, the 7th most diverse school in the nation, and majored in Anthropology, so that I could better understand and respect identities beyond my own. In my writing I aim to be as inclusive as possible, so that people of both my own identities and others can connect with my work. There’s enough literature out there about straight white males; my main characters are all queer people of color, and I’m working on becoming knowledgeable enough to include more marginalized identities in a respectful manner. I work very hard to be conscious, so that I can avoid harmful

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