My time as an undergraduate during my first degree was a time of exploration. I started out as a chemistry major and by the end of the four years, I had a theatre degree and a biochemistry minor. After graduating, I took some time to work and figure out what I wanted to do next. After some reflection, I realized that the one thing that I loved about both the arts and the sciences was writing: lab reports, presentations, research papers, character analyses—I loved it all and decided I wanted to hone my skills in this area. As I was looking for programs, I wanted to find something that truly involved writing, not just communication and strategy. I also didn’t want to simply get an English degree; while I love history and research, I really wanted to focus on rhetoric. As I learned, good rhetoric programs are hard to come by. I had given up hope when I decided to do one more google search, and I’m so glad I did. I found this program and by that fall, I was taking my first classes.

The PTW program at UALR was everything I hoped it would be and more. I have grown in my knowledge of writing and design techniques and in my confidence as a writer. From my first class in Nonfiction to my last class in Legal Writing, I have truly been able to explore and discover my strengths and weaknesses, the kinds of rhetoric that light me up and the writing styles that I want to learn to use better. There were so many things that I didn’t realize were components of rhetoric until I began this program. Simple things like typography and layout, periods v. exclamation points, jargon vs. slang. It’s more than just aesthetics and feel; these things can completely change the way individuals or groups of people respond to your message. I love this aspect of rhetoric because I tend to be very detail-oriented in my thinking and consider that one of my strengths. But what I enjoyed most about my classes was learning to look at big-picture things as well. How do all those little details come together to tell a cohesive story? You may love that font or that image or that sentence, but does it actually help the narrative? I have definitely gained a deeper appreciation for all the aspects of creative works over the past two years.

The most important thing that I learned about my writing process is that I approach my writing like a puzzle. One of the things that I always struggled with in school is outlines. In my education experience, outlines were taught as the proper method for ideation and were often required as part of writing assignments.These were always a chore for me because I struggled to come up with ideas, and then when the writing process began, the end result was always something completely different, so it felt like a waste of time. I love to do puzzles and when I have the time to do them, I start by building the border, then by sorting like colors. After that is done, I pick and choose from the piles at random until I find pieces that fit and the picture comes together gradually. This is also how I write: introductions and conclusions, then building paragraphs as the inspiration takes me, and finally connecting the paragraphs together. UALR gave me the freedom I needed to write the way I write best, and the positive feedback I received on my finished work helped to validate my processes. Of course, I am still a work-in-progress as a writer and thinker and I look forward to discovering new ways of working in the future. But I am thankful for the confidence to truly engage in that exploration that I gained from this program.

I was initially concerned about my ability to interact with my professors and peers as an online student. Would there be opportunities to collaborate? Were teachers responsive and available for questions/feedback? How much extra work would I have to do to feel engaged? To my surprise, rarely did I ever feel out of step or out of place in any class. The discussion boards were lively, office hours and meetings were always accommodated, and I felt heard and included in the synchronous classes I had on Zoom. When I took Memoir, we had round-table discussions about the pieces we were writing. Many of them were deeply personal (including my own) and I had the privilege of watching my fellow classmates grow as writers while also learning about them as people. This was important to me because I did not want to develop as a writer in a vacuum–I hoped to learn from others and be inspired by the work they did as well. Fortunately, I got all of that from UALR’s program.

Now that I have finished my degree, I plan on taking some time off before pursuing a Masters. I believe that the technical skills and writing confidence I gained in this program combined with the creative thinking and adaptability that I gained from my theatre degree will come together in a great way and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Kierstin