Hunts Point Alliance for Children » Jane Francisco

Friday July 9

Jane Francisco — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:08:11 +0000

Today was a bitter sweet day. I was kind of relived that it was our last day of workshops, writing together with the young writers but then I was also upset. I was upset that i would be leaving everything and everyone behind, and this beautiful campus. I really enjoyed my two weeks at Kenyon. I learned new forms of writing, different writing techniques, new vocabulary and how to be more creative. I also enjoyed visiting the KAC (Kenyon Athletic Center). Me and my friends worked out there and actually got to swim in the pool. The activities held by the R.A.’s after the daily meetings were also extremely fun. My favorite was playing capture the flag and participating in the scavenger hunt. Even though my team didn’t win, I still enjoyed going around campus trying to follow the clues to answer the questions. This was a really fun experience for me and I am so glad i was granted this opportunity. I met so many new people and learned so many new things. I will miss all the new people I met, but I am happy to be returning to my family and friends back home.

Tuesday July 6

Jane Francisco — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:58:14 +0000

July 6th was a very special day for Nicole, Darleny, Mercedes and I. We had to read a selected piece in front of the entire young writers program in the evening. I was nervous at first but then once i got up there and started reading I realized it wasn’t so bad. I read a poem about how nonviolence is the way to go. We had a prompt where we had to write something about/to a dead person and I chose to write about Gandhi, which is where my poem derived from. Earlier that day during workshops we took a walk around campus and observed every different spot we stopped at. My teacher, Sam Simpson, took my class really far to where Kenyon had this old train on rail road tracks. I thought it was pretty cool because we got to climb on it and spend some time in there.

2nd and 4th Day

Jane Francisco — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:07:03 +0000

My Following two days of workshops allowed me to get used to the daily routine: Wake up early, go to breakfast, go to the first workshop, half an hour break, go back to the first workshop, lunch, second workshop, free time, dinner, meeting then activities. The workshops are a good way to start the day because if you had an interesting dream the night before you can incorporate it into one of your prompts or free writes and just write down anything that’s been occupying space in your mind. I’ve grown to understand my classmates more and learned new things from them. For example, new vocabulary used in their writing pieces and ways to approach new ideas. I have eaten lunch with different groups of people and spend time with others to create new friendships and expand my variety of friends. Because the people are so nice here, that was easy. The dorms are also comfortable and my room mate is pretty neat and cool so there are no complaints there. The 11 o’clock bedtime is also good because one does need a good rest for all the writing we have to do the next morning. I really enjoy ending the days with activities because different people enjoy different things. So far I’ve done things like played a game of volleyball with a group of people then watched a movie with another group of people so it allows the more social side of a person to develop and not just their writing side.

2nd Day Here

Jane Francisco — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:02:22 +0000

My First Day of Workshops was exciting. I was excited to see how things would go and how i would like the workshops and if they were going to be boring. I found that i really enjoyed the workshops. They were fun, interesting, funny and with a little amount of people. I was not used to writing on my own, at home, so i was worried that i wouldn’t know what topics to use. Luckily, the teachers used prompts to enhance our ideas and get our pens flowing. The schedule on the paper also looked dreadful because we have workshops from 830-330 but there are breaks in between so they work out. The workshops also are not boring so they go by quickly. I like how i have 13 people in my class because it allows me to feel more comfortable sharing my work and get more individual attention from my teacher. I did get homework on the first day which was kind of expected but it was not a lot. i had to read a short story in a book that was rather entertaining and expand on a quote from another young writer’s piece of writing. The second homework was a challenge but it was cool seeing how the original writer used it then how differently i used it.

First Day

Jane Francisco — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:32:13 +0000

My first day at Kenyon was kind of exhausting. The plane ride was pretty short but the early timing was what really wore me out. Once we reached Columbus, Ohio we took a shuttle bus for a bit more than an hour to get to Kenyon College. The car ride was nice and smooth. The vast range of scenery as we drove on the roads of Ohio were interesting. We saw things like large corn fields and farms with llamas and cows. Then i took a well needed nap. Once i arrived at the campus i was hit by a sudden heat wave. It was extremely hot and humid here unlike the weather in New York. The campus however, was beautiful. It was very big and has a lot of green grass. The only thing i can say i dislike is how far the walks are from building to building. To cool down the hot weather a thunderstorm passed by dropping rain on us causing the campus tour we were on to be cut short. The dinner we ate was okay but i was hoping it would get better. I also enjoyed the ice cream social we had because it had stopped raining, the ice cream was great and we got to really interact and get to know our fellow companions at young writers. The people here are EXTREMELY nice and welcoming. Although a few are different than the usual New Yorkers, it’s normal because we are not in New York, obviously. I was excited for the next day.