History of an English Nerd - NNU Essay circa 2005

Here is another college essay I found yesterday. I'm a nerd. I'm a writer. I guess that's why I'm a journalism student, eh?

Sharece Bunn
February 28, 2005
EN 498: Senior Seminar

The History of an English Nerd

I have always been a nerd. There is no other way to explain it. How else would you describe a first grade student who stayed in from recess to write in her journal? Or a little girl who would sneak out of bed at night and hide in the bathroom so she could finish reading the book she checked out of the library. Where did this passion come from? The truth is that I have no idea how I fell in love with reading and writing. I’ve always just known that both were such an important part of me.

The writing side of me has never changed. I’ve always loved it. In second grade, I told my friend, Josh Bohl that I was one day going to be a writer. I had forgotten about this until we were juniors in high school, talking about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him about my dreams of becoming a writer and he actually reminded me that I had told him that almost a decade before.

My journals and letter-writing abilities are probably what kept my love for writing alive. I used to take my journal with me to my oldest sister’s basketball games to write about my silly boy crushes with my friend Abby. As for the letters, I wrote to my cousin Jenny all the time. I also set-up mail boxes for all my immediate family members in our hallway, writing each of them a letter every hour and then waiting impatiently for responses, as if the letters will magically appear. Thinking about it now, I realize just how much of a nerd I always was. Even now, I do some of the same quirky things, like checking my mailbox more that two times daily, itching for more mail.

My love for books must have grown out of my desire to write books. I went through various phases of reading based on a certain series or books my teachers read aloud in class. It took a while for my interests in reading to expand, but I have finally reached a point where I will at least start reading any book a good friend of mine recommends, but it must be said that recommendations for great children’s books will make it to the top of my reading list.

Time as an English major at NNU has only increased my nerdiness. I have written in an average of at least five journals per year, complete with random pictures and significant e-mails I have received. And whenever I can scratch up the time, I will read the random books on my shelf that have been dying to be read by me. The way figure it, I will always be a nerd. I’m okay with that. I feel like embracing the nerdiness because if I don’t and if I try to deny my passion of reading and writing, who knows what will happen to me.