Learning to Write

A fellow member of the "Lost Tools of Writing" Yahoo group recommended Reid Buckley's article, The Write Stuff, and I read it.

Mr. Buckley explains that when he taught a college public speaking class, he discovered that his students could not write. Most had never had their work edited by a teacher. Some had never even had to write an essay, even though they were months away from graduating.

Though I am sure Mr. Buckley would find much to criticize about my writing, its weaknesses are not due to a lack of effort from my teachers. I am grateful that I had the privilege of many thoughtful corrections from two outstanding college professors, Mrs. Britten and Dr. Jerry Brown. They loved good writing and communicated their passion for it with bold slashes of red marker, coupled with equally bold encouragement. Neither can I neglect dear Mr. Mickey Logue, who showed me how to improve my writing and reporting skills by marking up the articles I had published during my internship at The Ellsworth American in Ellsworth, Maine.

What I remember most about all of them, though, is the feeling that they cared for me. And that is where I believe real learning begins, whether it is writing or chemistry.