Monday, June 27, 2005
A class i actually like
I discovered something today. Famous writers as college writing class professors are overrated.
Last year, I had Sir Krip Yuson for my professor in Poetry. He's famous, or at least I think he is. I mean, he's even featured in magazines. Plus, he's the contemporary of famous writers like Emman and Pete Lacaba. But after the initial thrill of knowing that he was my teacher, I realize now that I did not really learn anything from him. And that his class had actually more often than not bored me. Same with Sir Badong, who is a National Artist. And from the looks of it, the drama class of Yumi and the rest of the drama gang with Mr. Bien Lumbera is doomed to the same endless, boring sessions.
On the other hand, Mr. Larry Ypil is not all that known. I mean, he's still young, so he's not as famous as the vets. I mean, he was my classmate in Sir Krip's class. I knew he had to be really good, because he was already assisting Sir Krip. But I've never read any of his works.
But good writer or not, I discovered today that I like his class a lot better than I like the ones I had with the famous literary vets. I mean, poetry seminar is a three-hour class, but I didn't get bored. Maybe it's the fact that it's a small class, maybe it's because most of us aren't so high up in the literary ladder like the classmates I had last year. Anyway, it made the class less formal, less intimidating, more comfortable. I'm not the type who usually speaks up in class, even though there's something I really, really want to say. For the first time, I didn't feel the usual hesitation to recite. In fact, I think Yumi and Ina were laughing already because I kept raising my hand to comment.
I didn't even feel that familiar panic when Sir Larry gave us the assignment on the theme "Desire" for Monday. Instead, my mind just started working like hell, already trying to piece together a poem for that assignment. Sure, what I end up with might turn out to be a dud, but it's a nice feeling to actually look forward to working on an assignment.
Last year, I had Sir Krip Yuson for my professor in Poetry. He's famous, or at least I think he is. I mean, he's even featured in magazines. Plus, he's the contemporary of famous writers like Emman and Pete Lacaba. But after the initial thrill of knowing that he was my teacher, I realize now that I did not really learn anything from him. And that his class had actually more often than not bored me. Same with Sir Badong, who is a National Artist. And from the looks of it, the drama class of Yumi and the rest of the drama gang with Mr. Bien Lumbera is doomed to the same endless, boring sessions.
On the other hand, Mr. Larry Ypil is not all that known. I mean, he's still young, so he's not as famous as the vets. I mean, he was my classmate in Sir Krip's class. I knew he had to be really good, because he was already assisting Sir Krip. But I've never read any of his works.
But good writer or not, I discovered today that I like his class a lot better than I like the ones I had with the famous literary vets. I mean, poetry seminar is a three-hour class, but I didn't get bored. Maybe it's the fact that it's a small class, maybe it's because most of us aren't so high up in the literary ladder like the classmates I had last year. Anyway, it made the class less formal, less intimidating, more comfortable. I'm not the type who usually speaks up in class, even though there's something I really, really want to say. For the first time, I didn't feel the usual hesitation to recite. In fact, I think Yumi and Ina were laughing already because I kept raising my hand to comment.
I didn't even feel that familiar panic when Sir Larry gave us the assignment on the theme "Desire" for Monday. Instead, my mind just started working like hell, already trying to piece together a poem for that assignment. Sure, what I end up with might turn out to be a dud, but it's a nice feeling to actually look forward to working on an assignment.
# Lyn found a missing piece @ 8:31 PM 
