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Tribute to My MSMC Spring 2010 Literature 16 Class
4/30/10. Today was the last meeting for my Mount Saint Mary's College Literature class. The theme for the class was one I chose and have taught before. It's name reflects that theme: “Out of the Closet:” The Literature of African American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered Authors. It's been an honor and an exciting adventure to teach this subject.It feels as if we had only just begun this journey and I am sorry to see all thirty of the ladies in my class go. They were exceptionally bright and open-minded... willing and ready to read about a new genre and to learn from what they read. They told me that they’ve learned a lot.
So have I... from them.
They have given me courage. To teach. Most of all, to keep writing. Sometimes, most of the time, really, it’s just hard to sit at a computer and put words that make sense on the blank page. Knowing that my words, my experience is of value—motivates others to keep trudging, plowing through in sunshine and in storm—well, this keeps me going at it. Especially on the days when I’m in front of the computer and it all seems way too much because I’m defocused, scattered, exhausted, and afraid that nothing coherent or interesting will ever again make it out of my head and onto paper. That’s when I’ll think of you, ladies.
You have taught me that people are more and better than what they know themselves to be. That they are willing to reach out, ready to empathize—ready and willing to feel what others feel.
You have taught me that people stretch and grow. That they will go through a mysterious door into unfamiliar, even frightening, territory. That they will step through and beyond the door of limitations, beyond taboo stereotyping into a place of enlightenment and freedom.
You have freed me to be who I am even more. To stand straight and tall. To love fully. To live from the center of the page, so to speak, all the way over to the edge of the margins. To trust in myself… in all of who and what I am.
For all of this and more, I acknowledge and thank you. I wish you well on your journey …
Anita Aguilar
Bianca Aldama
Krystal Aquino
Denise Carrera
Elizabeth Chavez
Michellin Dela Rosa
Laura Delgadillo
Denise Garcia
Katherine Garcia
Jasmine Gutierrez
April Hernandez
Jerquisha Jones
Angela Larios
Ariana Lopez
Magdalena Lopez
Vanessa Mateos
Lucia Vasquez
Yesenia Mendoza
Juana Molina
Alma Rosales
Denise Santiago
Viviana Santillan
Amelia Sili
Celeste Soto
Karina Morales
Rauna Landing
Joanna Valenzuela
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