There are a considerable number of articles (and studies) that underline the importance of motivation in a classroom and connect it to academic performance, enthusiasm and persistence, among others. Motivation is the force that keeps students going, even when they face obstacles.

It’s undeniable that motivation does contribute a great deal of energy to the classroom environment. In other words, it adds more spices to a meal called “education.” But the real question is how to find it or implement it in the classroom setting.

Somehow, some people expect teachers to motivate students in the best way possible, but the matter is not  as easy as it seems to be. All students are different, so aside from external or materialistic rewards, finding the appropriate motivation for every single student is hard. Since I am not a teacher, nor have I any teaching experience, I would assume that every teacher approaches motivating students differently. I must admit I rely on motivation immensely in my academic life. 

Although finding motivation can help you thrive in an incredible way, it’s worth noting this immense reliance on motivation comes with its own obstacles. Those who rely too much on it to thrive in a class feel haunted by the mere thought of waking up one morning with no motivation to resort to when needed. This nightmare shakes the core of their academic life. If you are like this, you surely understand the struggle. If I lose my motivation for any class (not subject, necessarily), my enthusiasm cloaks itself in mist dutifully and says, “You go and find us some new motivations. Until then, I shall wait here patiently.”

When I contemplate the reason behind my excelling in specific classes and not doing so great in others, I always end up finding one essential reason behind this excellence: motivation. By excelling, I do not mean getting good grades because, honestly, one has to work for a good grade with or without motivation. I am referring to the feeling itself: waking up every day looking forward to a class because you genuinely are interested in it. Of all the teachers who have taught me from seventh to 12 grade, two of them stand out as the epitome of teachers who know how to motivate and understand the importance of it. Mr. Rodgers (social studies) and Ms. Timmel (Spanish). 

Mr. Rodgers epitomizes the perfect example of how a teacher can motivate students and help them do better in class, even if they have no interest in social studies. My lack of interest in social studies irrevocably metamorphosed into a passion. I felt challenged in that class, and that challenge was a great motivator that kept pushing me to improve and do better.

I was passionate about that class and everything we learned. Hence, I learned and remembered, for example, how a bill becomes a law. That passion was such an odd feeling because I realized even though I dreaded tests in my other classes, I looked forward to taking Mr. Rodgers’ tests. 

Something was fulfilling about taking tests in Mr. Rodgers’ class because they reflected how hard I studied, and not surprisingly, they increased my motivation. I’ve recently found out why I didn’t perceive the class and its exams as being difficult:  “When students perceive a subject or task as being not difficult, they develop higher estimates of their own abilities for the subject or task.” I never believed there was something impossible when I was in that classroom. Every single achievement/dream seemed possible and attainable. 

Now, I ask myself and wonder why.

The simple answer is that Mr. Rodgers, right off the bat, made it clear to us that nothing was impossible in his class. I took it upon myself to work as hard as I could, so I studied a lot. I always found motivation in that classroom. It was as if he knew what worked best for me as motivation and did not hesitate to offer it to me when needed. He supported my academic progress in every possible way.

I remember one day, he showed me a traced map of Africa, and I was so mesmerized by it because whoever did it drew the maps of all African countries, too. It was a perfect portrait, so to speak. Without thinking twice, I looked at him and said with determination, “I will make one like it.” I was intrinsically motivated to trace and draw that map and enjoyed all the hours I dedicated to finishing it. An important thing that I learned in Mr. Rodgers’ class was that students feel more motivated to do better if teachers recognized the efforts they were making because he always recognized my efforts. 

As for Ms. Timmel, she was quite an extraordinary teacher. I took her Spanish class as an experience. I told myself if I did not end up liking it, I would not take any Spanish classes in the future. It was very hard not to notice how enthusiastic she was about teaching Spanish since for her, Spanish was more than a language; it was a bridge that connects people. In next to no time, I adopted that enthusiasm. 

Long short story, she motivated me to learn and made me love the language –– so I worked hard and enjoyed the time I dedicated to studying the class content –– and, in some way or another, she is the reason why I decided to major in Spanish. I learned more in her class than in all my other (high school) Spanish classes combined.

Motivation can make a huge difference in a student’s life, so if you’re struggling with a class, try to find some motivation to help you keep going!

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language,” wrote an unknown editor to the British poet Rudyard Kipling (who, by the way, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907).

Rejection is something that most people detest and hate to go through. Still, as is always the case, there is a particular group whose entire dream and professional life is depended solely upon not having their works rejected. Among this group are writers.

Almost all writers throughout history have dealt with it in various ranges. It’s nearly impossible to believe a writer who says, “I’ve never had any of my writings rejected by editors/publishers.”

I mean, there are so many other ways to show off and boast about one’s great talent, and claiming that one has never gotten a rejection slip is certainly none of them. Why? Because unless you are publishing your own work, you will always come across editors whose literary taste is a mission impossible to satisfy.

As a matter of fact, some writers brag about the rejection slips they have received throughout their life because it was those slips that made them more determined to never drop their pen. 

Yet, if there weren’t always a handful of editors and publishers who would take the risk and publish the writings of a rising writer, then there would’ve never been a lot of novels, poems, etc.

The fear of publishing a not-best-selling book or unappealing/new poem is why some editors avoid publishing the work of amateurish writers. The financial ramifications of taking such a risk play a huge role when making such a decision. “Why should we take the risk?” they might wonder.

Every writer’s nightmare, be it a professional or aspiring one, is the rejection slip that gracefully (the irony!) might accompany their writings. This piece of paper (or you might get it online nowadays) could shatter the confidence of a professional, established writer –– let alone a young, unpublished one whose self-confidence is extremely susceptible. 

Perhaps, when one tells people about their dreams of becoming a writer, others rarely tell them about the rejection that they might and will encounter throughout their professional life. Yet, the question is why? Why not tell them, right off the bat, that if they don’t buckle up and prepare themselves to be flooded with rejection slips in their first years, they won’t be able to survive the storm? 

Suppose you tell this ambitious person, who has been dreaming of becoming a writer, about the rejection they will have to deal with. In that case, there is a considerable possibility that they might give up early in their career. Of course, this is just a possibility. Although almost everyone has heard about rejection slips, it feels very different when one gets it personally.

What’s so dangerous about having one’s work rejected is the self-doubt that inevitably follows it. Young writers are more prone than professional writers to experience self-doubt, and perhaps some of them, not being able to overcome it, quit and fold their dreams like a piece of paper.

Self-doubt is powerful enough to damage the literary confidence of any professional writer. Needless to say, at least, these writers have their achievements to help them bounce back when they face rejections. They have visible reminders (i.e., their printed works). 

But young writers feel shattered when they find out the harsh reality of the writing world. They still don’t have something to back them up and push them when all they want to do is step back and quit. 

Indeed, Sylvia Plath was very frank and straightforward when she said, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” But why do some writers gravely suffer from self-doubt while others do not? 

Charles Bukowski had an amusing answer to this question (keep in mind that he was just sympathizing with those who couldn’t defeat self-doubt), “Bad writers tend to have self-confidence, while the good ones tend to have self-doubt.”

Perhaps it’s through rejection that rising writers realize the beauty of having their work accepted. It’s rather consoling to find out that many, if not all, famous writers had several of their writings rejected even after they established themselves as professionals. Maybe the possibility of having their work rejected keeps professional writers on edge and always striving to do better.

Take Marianne Moore, as an example. After working on translating the fables of La Fontaine for several years, her translation was returned by the new editor, who informed her that they would no longer sponsor this project (they asked her to start translating them), nor were they going to publish it. Just imagine the agony, disappointment and anger such a thing might inflict.

Imagine spending several years working on a project and then it gets cold-bloodedly rejected by some editors. Nevertheless, someone else published her translation (Perhaps the possibility of getting published is worth the suffering?).

Some other examples could be Plath, George Orwell, Kipling, and the list goes on and on.

“So, dear Snoopy,” Ray Bradbury wrote, urging young writers not to give up just because rejection slips are piling up before their eyes, “take heart from this. The blizzard doesn’t last forever; it just seems so.”

Rejection slips, if they indicate anything at all, are evidence that one is a writer.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

There are many ways to help students improve their academic performance. However, arguably, the most effective way is to provide them with feedback. Yes, feedback.

Once the student turns in their work, they know they cannot do anything to improve the grade they will receive for that assignment until it’s graded. The teacher grades the assignment, enters the grade and the students find out what they received on that assignment. A simple process, isn’t it? Well, not necessarily.

Here’s a scenario. Let’s say one student received a C and another got an A on the same assignment. In any case, both would surely want to know why they got what they received. The one who got an A would surely like to read some compliments about their efforts, and the one who got a C would most likely prefer to know what mistakes they made. Why? Because they don’t want to repeat the same mistake on subsequent assignments. Well, to their dismay, they figured out their teacher doesn’t give feedback or write down comments on the back page of assignments. This is when students start freaking out and feeling overly stressed. I’m certainly not trying to criticize teachers, mind you, just pointing out what happens sometimes.

Now, let’s imagine the same scenario happened, but the teacher did give some feedback and explained why they graded it in this way. This will make an enormous difference because the student will be able to understand their mistakes, and not just that, but they will also be able to improve and most certainly get better grades in the future. It is most productive to a student’s learning when they are provided with an explanation as to what is accurate and inaccurate about their work.

Same scenarios, but providing feedback made the difference. How could one improve if one doesn’t know where one went wrong? I mean, what I might think of as a great sentence, you might regard as bad, and vice versa. Different perspectives and points of view can be a barrier between teachers and students if they don’t communicate, and providing feedback is an excellent way of communicating.

As always, I like to give some anecdotes when I talk about things (I happen to be a great storyteller if given a chance to talk about everything and nothing simultaneously). Two years ago (when I was a high school junior), I took some classes at a local community college for PSEO credits, but since it was during the pandemic, classes were mostly online. Among the classes I took was a literature class (one for the fall semester and another for the spring). Almost the entire time, I kept getting some points off for “MLA” reasons (for every class), but none of the instructors ever explained why or in what way my citations were wrong. The citations looked correct to me, and I kept wondering why none of those instructors pointed the mistake out to me because I kept getting the same points off for every single assignment that needed to be written in MLA. Almost all the assignments were required to be in MLA in all classes, without exception.

Then, in my online spring semester English class, the instructor left almost in the middle of the semester, so we got a new instructor. If you ask me, it was the greatest change that happened to me that semester because we ended up getting not just a kind, understanding instructor but one that really understood the value of providing feedback on students’ writings. That instructor was known for being diligent and very well known for her constructive, helpful and straightforward feedback.

To my surprise and joy, when she graded my essay, she provided individual video feedback. Unbelievably amazing! As expected, I got some points off for my MLA citation, but she thoroughly explained it in the video and walked me through the correct way of citing in MLA. The good news is that ever since that day, I haven’t gotten any points off for MLA reasons whatsoever! Why? Because an instructor was kind and generous enough with her time to explain my mistake to me and go the extra mile to show me how to fix it.

Feedback matters, especially when the student makes a mistake. I, for one, greatly appreciate feedback because I use it as a guide for future assignments. On the other hand, returning assignments without any feedback might ensure the student will repeat the same mistake again, especially those who are too shy to go to instructors’ office hours.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. 

If one looks at the data on federal funding for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, one realizes the situation is far worse than imagined. As of 2020, federal funding for English-learning students has been largely flat since 2002. Twenty years have passed, which means the English Learner (EL) population has considerably increased, yet the funding has remained the same. As of 2018, nearly one-quarter of all U.S. children spoke a non-English language at home.

Now and then, you may encounter those who underestimate the importance of ESL classes and assume these classes have little to no impact on American society. Well, there were 4.85 million ELs in the United States as of 2016 (and surely this number must have increased by now), so this assumption is nonsensical. You are not talking about 10-15 students, but you are talking about millions, and these millions, once they grow up, will play an important role in the future of this society. If you underestimate the importance of ESL classes, then you are subsequently minimizing the influence of millions of people. One shouldn’t ignore the impact of one person, let alone the impact of millions of people.

Now, let’s look at these classes from a different perspective. ESL classes are a sanctuary for those who are new to the U.S. It’s where they get introduced to this new nation, language and culture; it’s there where they first discover the importance of learning a language everyone speaks outside the doors of their homes. The environment of these classes is always inclusive, amiable, inspiring and, most importantly, welcoming.  “ESL teachers not only help bridge the language barrier, they often become cultural mentors to their students as they help them navigate the many cultural differences and nuances of a new country.”

ESL classes are very rich in diversity and multilingualism. You usually find students who are multilingual, coming from families who speak more than one language. A very important thing to shed light on is it’s in this class that students try to adapt to the new country they moved to. And this could be either a slow or fast process, depending on the student’s personality, but what’s worth noting is while the students are trying to adapt to the new life, they are finding people like them during the entire school day, which means they see other people struggling like them, language-wise and culture-wise.

This is what makes this class a salvation because they know no matter how long it will take them to learn the language, they won’t find people judging them for being a slow learner or for speaking in a broken accent. As expected, students in these classes don’t know advanced words, so they use basic words that help them convey what they want to say, and that’s commendable because they’re trying to communicate in a new language. The lack of being judged is what makes them brave enough to speak in a language that’s entirely new to them.

EL students feel nostalgic about ESL classes once they leave them because it was where they planted roots as newcomers, acquired a considerable knowledge of the language, adapted to the new culture and found inspiration. A former EL student once told me, “I can’t imagine how terribly difficult it might have been had I been placed in a non-ESL class with others who spoke English as a first language. It would’ve been excruciating and stressful because it’s hard to be in a class in which you don’t understand half of what the teacher and your classmates are saying.”

Please avoid comparing ESL classes to foreign language classes students take in high school and college (yes, some people make this comparison). They are so different and incomparable for one main reason: Foreign language  classes are taught by teachers who fluently speak their students’ language (English, in this case), while ESL classes are not. Both the students and the teacher in foreign language classes can communicate perfectly in English. On the other hand, in ESL classes, the teacher speaks English and is teaching students who barely can speak it, and it’s rare that an ESL teacher can understand every spoken language in their classroom (i.e., Arabic, Spanish, Somali, Chinese, etc.). This is why ESL teachers are remarkable.

Let’s not forget the crucial, influential role ESL teachers play in society. They contribute to the great impact of EL students once they leave the classroom and become active members of their society. These teachers are the reason other teachers can communicate with former ELs and not realize that those students were once ELs.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. 

March 23 was the first day of Ramadan, a sacred month that Muslims worldwide observe by fasting and doing good deeds. It’s also the month in which we commemorate the revelation of the Holy Quran.

For as long as I can remember, Ramadan was (and still is) the most welcomed month in my family, if not in every Muslim household. Usually, the entire focus or curiosity about Ramadan revolves around not being able to eat or drink water from dawn to sunset. However, most people overlook another important aspect of Ramadan: the social life during Ramadan.

Since the Muslim population worldwide is very diverse, each group has its own traditions when it comes to celebrating the beginning of Ramadan and the entire month in general.

From exchanging dishes with their neighbors to staying up late at night to pray, Ramadan for Muslims is much more than just abstaining from eating and drinking. Besides being a religious month, Ramadan is certainly a social month. Unlike all other months, during Ramadan, Muslims spend more time with each other (I’m speaking from experience here), either by inviting those they know to Iftar or by regularly going to the mosque or religious lectures. All mosques are full to the brim from the first to the last day of this holy month, so naturally, you end up meeting different people every day, and you might end up creating long-lasting friendships with them.

The sense of community during Ramadan is palpable and visible. The rich help the poor, the poor help those who are poorer and so on. This is one of the reasons why Muslims donate more money in Ramadan than in any other month because “it’s the month of Ramadan!” Feeding the poor is among the greatest things one can do this month, so even the owners of tiny restaurants donate free meals. Everyone wants to do as many good deeds as possible because no one knows whether they will remain alive until the next Ramadan. Hence, to start the month with a new, clean page, people start reconciling and forgiving each other, resuming long-paused relationships.

Exchanging dishes is a well-known and respected tradition in the Middle East and in some other Muslim countries. It’s, in fact, one of my favorite Ramadan traditions because there is always something beautiful about it.

I remember how eagerly I looked forward to the few minutes before Iftar as a child because it was when we exchanged dishes with our neighbors. And since I was, of all my siblings, the delegate chosen for this mission (my fellow delegates were always children), I enjoyed going to the neighboring houses and exchanging dishes. As predicted, I would be the first one to see what was in the new dishes, and I liked being given that privilege (that is if you think of it from a child’s point of view). But of course, sometimes, I wished to retire from this delegation, especially on the days I was very tired. On those days, I would be happy to let someone else assume this position until the next day. If this indicates anything, it surely shows that I was by no means a dictator or authoritarian who clung to positions!

I was six years old when I fasted for the first time in my life. Being that young, I didn’t understand the religious significance of fasting, nor why people were nicer in Ramadan than they were all year round. But I wanted to fast that day for one big reason (in fact, a silly reason): I didn’t want to be deemed a child. Like every child in the world, I didn’t want to be treated as such, and not fasting while everyone in my family did made this feeling very palpable. Hence, there was only one solution to this dilemma: Fast like an adult. And fast I surely did. Since it was in the summer and we fasted for approximately more than 15 hours, I was nearly dead by the time of sunset, or so I thought. Obviously, I didn’t die that day! How I was able to last after 15 hours without drinking water was a wonderment to me, and I marveled at my endurance and determination. Needless to say, that wonderment ceased as I grew older because I realized people wouldn’t die if they didn’t drink water for a few hours.

Finally, let’s appreciate all mothers who spend so much time preparing Iftar for their families and making this month special. One must really sympathize with whoever is in charge of washing the dishes after Iftar and that’s all I can say about this hard job! Although sympathies won’t decrease the number of dishes, they will, at least, alleviate the stress this duty induces.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

“Stand for the teacher and honor his rank / for a teacher is almost as a prophet / Do you know of someone nobler than / he who nurtures minds and hearts” – Ahmed Shawqi (The great 20th century Arab poet).

Arguably, teachers are one of the most, if not the most, important members of any society because how could any society function without educating its children? If you have been following the news, you might have noticed more and more teachers have been leaving the field over the past two years.

This is happening because of several factors. (a) they aren’t paid enough (which is honestly a shame), (b) they are under unbearable pressure, (c) there is a lack of proper funding for schools, which means teachers have to pay out of their own pockets to provide school supplies for their students at times. Again, this never would have happened if proper funding was allocated to this field.

Between February 2020 and May 2022, it was reported that approximately 300,000 public school teachers and staff quit their jobs. When 300,000 individuals leave a specific field, something needs to be fixed. Otherwise, why would they leave in such high numbers?

Of course, we also have to take into account that it’s not only a low salaries problem; the problem extends beyond that. Teachers were (and still are) under insufferable pressure due to the pandemic, and the politicization of the profession has worsened the situation; some teachers are being told what to teach and what not to teach.

Everyone knows when a person decides to enter the teaching field, they are not doing so for the sake of money (obviously) but for the sake of making a difference in children’s lives. Shouldn’t a person like this be honored and paid sufficiently? Besides, teachers play a crucial role in inspiring students to choose a career field.

Back in 8th grade, I had a remarkable social studies teacher, Mr. Rodgers, who was the reason I began enjoying social studies to the point where I was seriously thinking about becoming a social studies teacher myself. Because he was such a unique, impressive teacher who knew how to teach in an extraordinary way, he always made a difference in his students’ lives, including mine. In his class, I exceeded my own expectations and achieved things I would’ve never achieved had I had another teacher. I always like to tell people that I have a pre-Mr. Rodgers academic life and a post-Mr. Rodgers academic life. He broadened my horizons and inspired me. He always knew how to push me to do better, yet simultaneously, he gave me a chance to step back and ask for help whenever I needed it. I knew I would excel in whatever subject he might teach because Mr. Rodgers will always be Mr. Rodgers, the teacher who changed his students’ lives for 31 years.

Perhaps you, too, had a teacher like Mr. Rodgers – though I believe no one can be like him – and you believe every student deserves such a teacher. Most of us have had remarkable teachers throughout our academic life, and yes, these teachers changed our lives and contributed a great deal to shaping our future and the future of our country.

Don’t these teachers deserve to get a decent salary that will, at least, help them work in this demanding field? Isn’t the future of this country’s education worth allocating decent funding to it? We can’t ask teachers to go above and beyond in their jobs when we don’t provide them with their basic needs. And no matter how much they get paid, they deserve much more.

To all teachers – especially Mr. Rodgers, Ms. Timmel, Ms. Ramirez, Mrs. Plager, Mrs. Speltz, Mr. Larsen (the greatest math teacher ever), Mrs. Adams, Mr. McGuire, Mrs. Casper, Ms. Boyles, and Ms. Hazard – who played an important role in my life, thank you! And to all teachers in the U.S., we appreciate and need you all, and please know that you have all had a great impact on at least some of your students.

Legislators, let’s not just stand for teachers and honor their ranks; instead, let’s pay them the salaries they deserve.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Dear freshmen,

I hope this letter finds you all well and that you’re enjoying college life despite any difficult classes. Just as your name indicates, you all are still fresh to this life, or should I call it world? Therefore, never think there is something wrong with you if you just can’t handle it.

Remember why you are here and how hard you worked to be at the University of Minnesota. When you were admitted to the University, the admissions knew you were competent to attend it and graduate from it. Therefore, remember although you might think you’re not smart enough (due to struggling in some classes), you can surely thrive despite everything; you’re intelligent and able to pass your classes.

We all are worried about finals week since, for some of us, it will be our first time experiencing this anxiety, but we shouldn’t forget that we can do it. We’ll survive because we’ve already survived studying and graduating from high school during the pandemic.

Here’s a couplet I wrote several months ago, which I think applies to what we’re experiencing now:

“Remember that you are so dynamic

You strived to graduate during a pandemic.”

Sincerely,

A fellow freshman

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

To whom it may concern,

In this world, kindness is prevalent, although some people happen to narrow its prevalence by claiming that it has almost disappeared. Despite the ugliness of all the disasters that are happening in this world, one kind person can alleviate the harshness of life for another person. Please know your kindness is undoubtedly appreciated and needed, so never doubt its influence.

You don’t need to be a superhero and change everyone’s life, but you can be a hero to one person by just showing them some kindness. Kindness is the kind of medicine that doesn’t need a prescription or doctor’s consultation before using it. Importantly, don’t forget that you, too, need kindness, so show yourself some of it. Otherwise, you’ll be the epitome of the Arabic proverb, “the carpenter’s door is broken” (there are several translations of this proverb, and this is merely one of them).

Sincerely,

A person who was touched by the kindness of a stranger

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

What is more exciting than finding a poem for every period you’re going through? Wouldn’t it create a sense of connection with a particular person in this world (the poet, in this case) who seems to understand what you are going through?

Poetry has been for so long either romanticized or totally dismissed. Those who love poetry seem to have the usual argument with those who don’t: “Poetry isn’t boring! It’s just that you didn’t feel any connection with it yet!” or perhaps more typically, “Poetry is for those who find meaning in everything, even in blank walls.”

Regardless of whether you love poetry or hate it (hopefully, you don’t), you should memorize a poem that interests you and try to recite it sometime in an unexpected place or during an unexpected situation. The feeling one gets while they are reciting a poem is priceless because although you’re reciting someone else’s words, you internalize the words and read them as if they were yours.

For me, poetry has been my friend for more than a decade. A difficult friendship though it is, our friendship has always been stable. I have always been the one who finds solace in it, and it has never minded being my solace.

I was a first-grader in a suburban city in southwestern Damascus when I heard my school was hosting a poetry recitation contest. It was then that I began memorizing poems and enthusiastically reciting them in front of the whole school. I never imagined performing in front of so many teachers (there weren’t that many, to be honest), let alone the whole school, so it was my first time stepping out of my comfort zone. I memorized classical Arabic poetry (poems of Ibn Zaydun, Al-Farazdaq, etc.). That year, I won first place in the poetry recitation category, which was such a great incentive for me to participate the following year, which I undoubtedly did. To cut a long story short, stepping out of my comfort zone was the path that led me to poetry. But aren’t we all led to poetry through a path we never imagined we would take?

Since then, I have delved into poetry, and after moving to the U.S. (and improving my English), I began reading poems by American poets (Marianne Moore, W.S. Merwin, Sylvia Plath, Dorothy Parker, etc.). Poetry has a magical power in introducing you to the core of any culture or community you would like to learn about or interact with.

When I was a high school senior, I participated in the Poetry Out Loud program—a great program. The Minnesota-native poet Lisa Higgs and the theater performer Amanda Ruggeri coached us. For the first time in my life, I got to enjoy the process of analyzing poetry. Although I’ve always loved poetry, I dreaded the poetry analysis unit in my English classes. However, these two coaches had a different approach to analyzing poems, which was why I began enjoying this process. I learned that complicating the analysis of any poem won’t help you understand it better, so you should go through this process step by step. If you understand the speaker of the poem, be it the poet or a persona, then you’ve taken the first step toward understanding it. Then, they taught us a very important lesson: “One can’t perform a poem if one doesn’t understand it.” The beauty of poetry lies in our understanding of it.

Now back to reading poetry: I have a specific poet for every mood and feeling. For example, when I want to read witty or sarcastic poems, Dorothy Parker shakes my hand and welcomes me to her kingdom of wittiness. I read Elia Abu Madi for optimism, Marie Howe for grief and the exceptional poets Ahmed Shawqi and Muhammad al-Jawahiri for every mood.

As I walked across campus during the fall and saw how beautifully built Northrop is, I quietly recited a poem to myself. Although there hasn’t been any scientific evidence to prove it yet, I feel that fall goes hand-in-hand with poetry. I don’t know if it’s the beauty of fall that beautifies poetry or vice versa, but all I can say is that I feel they complement each other. I see the leaves fall, and all I can think of is a poem, either about the season or about whatever feeling I’m experiencing at that moment. As I commute to campus each morning, I hum to myself either Sara Teasdale’s beautiful poem “A Morning Song” or (one of my all-time favorite poets) Edgar Albert Guest’s poem “On Quitting,” which I read when I feel very challenged and on the verge of quitting.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Famous writers and actors know if they keep diaries or journals, they might get published after they die. Perhaps you have heard the diary of the English actor Alan Rickman was published recently, and it soon became a bestseller. You might ask yourself, “What’s so outstanding about this news?” Well, the outstanding aspect of publishing this diary isn’t that it was written by Rickman, but it’s about people’s reactions to it.

To be honest, I had never heard of Alan Rickman, let alone care about his diary, but what caught my attention was how some people were commenting and arguing about whether this diary should’ve been published in the first place. Some people thought it was wrong to publish it because he might not have wanted it to be published considering his privacy and the sensitivity of its contents. Other people thought the fact he kept a diary for more than a decade meant he knew it would be published one day; thus, he continued keeping a diary. If you google “Alan Rickman diaries,” one of the first questions that will pop up is, “Did Alan Rickman want his diaries published?”

Regardless of where I stand on this argument, it made me think of all of the journals and letters of famous writers that were published after they died. I began wondering if it was actually wrong to publish or even read them because we might be intruding into the private life they wanted to keep a secret. But the most critical question, in this case, is why do people read the selected letters or selected journals of celebrities? Is it because we have so much curiosity and would like to know more about them and their life they wanted to keep away from the public’s eye? What’s so important about these publications?

I, for one, read these publications out of mere curiosity; that’s it. Perhaps a curiosity that revolves around the thought of whether their private life resembled their public life or was happier or more depressing. These publications are usually powerful and quick to be bestsellers because they divulge writers’ secrets and perhaps the nuances of their lives; they expose different sides or aspects of their personalities, careers, struggles, etc.

If you’ve read the letters of Sylvia Plath and her selected journals, you might’ve realized you feel as if two different people were writing them. The journal showed her struggles, depression and much more than that, and her letters, on the contrary, showed something different, perhaps because they were written for other people, unlike her journal, which was written for herself. Suppose you have read the selected letters of Marianne Moore. In that case, you will come to understand her more and perhaps understand her philosophy on life, suffering and, most importantly, on becoming a poet and creativity. I remember once hearing Elizabeth Bishop would’ve hated the idea of having her letters published and would’ve surely refused to even consider it since she was a very reticent person. Yet they were published, and I happen to have a copy of them.

As I kept thinking about why we read these publications, I found three reasons for that. Some people try to find similarities between their lives and the writer’s (or any other celebrity’s), or perhaps they would like to realize whatever struggle they’re going through, a writer went through it and was very expressive and descriptive of it. In other words, they would like to see their struggles or thoughts written more expressively, and through that, they might find solutions to these struggles. Lastly, other people just read them out of curiosity and because they admire whomever the celebrity is.

It’s undeniable there is always something magical about holding a writer’s letters or diary between your hands, and no matter what happens after that, you will never regret reading it.

Amina Hasan is a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.