Learning Experience: Writing for Publication Class

Another class I must brag on this semester is my Writing for Publication class. I’m a writing minor so I had the chance to take this magazine writing class for my last minor class ever! It has also been such a great learning experience for me; from the beginning of the semester, we were able to read many different genres of magazine writing as well as different types – types such as longform, profile, commentary, and many, many articles on the Coronavirus. I’ve had the chance to write my own essays on each genre mentioned above which has taught me so much about how to conduct proper interviews, observation and research. Now I can add many more writing pieces to my portfolio! I’m proud of my writing this semester; for one, my longform feature may be my favorite piece I’ve ever written. I’ll share my intro below in case anyone is intrigued J

The Angel Warriors
Deena answered the landline with a huge sigh of relief. The 37-year-old stay-at-home mom glanced up at the living room flat screen TV to see scrolling headlines “World Trade Center Destroyed; Many Dead,” “Terrorists Attack New York,” “It’s War.”

“Deena?”

“Tom, you’re O.K.”

“No, I’m not. I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked.”

Tom was due back to San Francisco later that day from a business trip in New York. He was calling Deena from one of the credit card-enabled airplane seatback phones that were standard on commercial airlines in 2001. When Deena heard Tom’s voice, she felt her heart stop mid-beat. When she spoke, her voice trailed slowly. Never before had Deena noticed how time seemed to freeze; No matter how badly she wanted to manipulate it, time stood still. She remembers thinking, “This is not my life. My life is quiet, suburban, and ordinary.” Almost robotically Deena reiterated Tom’s words and asked if he was in the air. Her heart now exploding in her chest, the hairs on her forearms standing straight up. A sadness built up in her eyes – she felt it, she knew it was there – but she wouldn’t let it consume her. Tom proceeded to relay his flight information to Deena – calmly, assuredly, unafraid – and warned her the hijackers had already knifed a guy and to call the authorities. He hung up.

My piece ended up being nearly 4,000 words and 10 pages long. It’s a piece I hold close to my heart because I got to tell my close friend’s story about her family’s experience of 9/11. I learned more about who I am as a writer and the style I like to write in. Although my future may lie in marketing, my personal hobby will always be writing – writing short stories, poetry, profile features or current event stories. I’m sad that this semester is coming to a close; I honestly can’t put into words what this class (and many others) has taught me over the years here at TCU. No matter how weird and unexpected this half of the semester has been, I’m taking away even more life lessons than I could have ever imagined. One piece of advice that this class taught me that I’ll leave you all with is “don’t give up on finding your way.” I hope we all leave this semester a little bit more in tune with ourselves and a lot more grateful for the things and people we do have.  

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