My first time out of the gate...

I admire folks that have blogs, and I have wanted to start one for a while; however, I was unsure if I had anything worth saying.  With this said, I feel an obligation to start blogging due to my current position;  I work in a writing center at a local community college, and part of our mantra alludes to writing center workers being writers as well.  I haven’t really “written” anything in years, so I guess it’s time to start!  I’m hoping that keeping a blog will help me to become a better writer and thus will help me to become better at my job.  I’m not sure if I have a lot to say, so this thing may crash and burn in a week.  It may turn into an obsession.  I’m open to either.

When I have studied literature in the past, I was almost always instructed to study or read about the authors so that through their background, so I would better understand why they wrote what they did.  For those of you that plan to follow my blog, I thought I could give you a little background about myself.

I grew up in the foothills of NC.  When I was a kid, I was jealous of my friends that grew up in neighborhoods because there were other kids that lived close by, and they got to ride their bikes on pavement.  My grandfather was my only neighbor, and well, probably the only neighbor I had business spending time with.  The end of my front yard was where the cow pasture began.  The smell of “cow” and hay reminds me of being a kid.  As a matter of fact, one evening as I was driving to school in Hickory, I stopped at a convenience store just this side of Taylorsville.  It was late summer/early fall, and I stepped out of my car and the smell of cow pasture and freshly-cut hay combined with the slight cooling of fall washed over me.  I found myself closing my eyes and breathing it in.  What a smell that was.  I’ll probably never forget it. 

While my friends were playing t-ball on Saturday mornings, my family was usually helping my grandfather in the garden shucking and silking corn, stringing and breaking beans, or digging potatoes.  As a kid, I didn’t like it too much.  But now, I look back at the time I got to spend with my family with a smile and I’m glad that I did it.  I don’t think that t-ball practice would have taught me as much character as did those Saturdays in the garden.  I’d trade small farm living any day over neighborhood living…and I hope to one day.

From the time I was 15 to the age of 25, I had a job and went to school at the same time.  Throughout high school, I had different degrees of success.  Although I had many, many friends and excelled in music, many people don’t know, I barely graduated high school, and I never took the SATs.  I didn’t even bother applying to 4-year colleges or universities; I didn’t know if I was going to go.  This was due to a variety of factors: 1. I had very little motivation, 2. I worked too much, and 3. I had a few negative experiences in high school.  I’m definitely a different person.  I have 3 college degrees from Appalachian State: BS in English, Secondary Education; MA in Higher Education/Teaching with a Specialty in English; and an EDS (Educational Specialist) in Higher Education – Administration.  If I have learned anything, I have learned that I’m not smarter than anybody else; getting an education is simply something I concentrated on for a long time.

Instead of going straight through college, I tried my darndest to pursue music as a full-time career.  I played in many Christian-based groups, each with varying degrees of success and popularity, but none allowed me to become independent.  I learned a lot about myself during this time, and I’ll probably allude to it much more in the future.

I grew up in a Southern Baptist church, and I am a Christian.  When it comes to my view of how I interpret things that I experience, C.S. Lewis articulated it best when he said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  I cannot say it any better than this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  I hope to write more soon!  If you have any questions you would like for me to answer, please e-mail me at moorefamily2@gmail.com and I may answer them…or I may not. J