Had an interview today for a position as a writing assistant. It's a program that drew me to Muhlenberg in the first place: Nominated students take a special writing course and then work one-on-one with Freshman in their first year seminars to help improve their writing, plus extra hours in the writing center so that any student can come in for help. It's a paid position in which I'd get to critique and edit papers, get exposure to lots of new ideas, and learn a lot about my own writing. Getting this position would be like my birthday, Halloween (Trick-or-Treat variety), the Fourth of July, and Christmas all rolled into one!

I applied last year, but there were a lot of upperclassmen and I was a little too shy (read: terrified! I'd never had an interview before!). However, I think this interview went much better, and I'm getting a bit of a reputation for my writing in the departments that I hope will help. Well, I assume most of us who have been nominated have similar reputations. Hopefully we'll all have a great class together in the spring...and if not, well then, it's American Literature all the way!

I think my favorite part of the interview was the request to bring in one sentence that we considered really good writing. I brought the first stanza of one of my favorite poems, William Ernest Henley's "Invictus":

Under the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

I consider this Nathaniel Nicholas' poem--I always visualize him, "head bloody but unbowed" [sic].