8/17/13

Dear Malcolm, To begin with, Id like to sincerely thank you for your letter. I think there is something so intimate about the connections we forge and the insights we gain through language and having a professor willingly open that link to his students is something quite compelling. I spend a lot of time thinking and a lot of time writing. And sometimes, I find that the best way to access my thoughts is through my writing. And (if you can bear with me,) I think that my thoughts are the best way to understand who I am. Whoa, anyways, after moving in on Thursday, I spent some time thinking and I started writing. Id like to share this tidbit and expand on it, then give some biographical background information to hopefully express to you who I am. I think that we see the world in words. I think that we search, identify, appreciate, crave and love in symbols, letters and markings. And I think that the world is beautiful. Rather than inhibiting our experience, language enhances it. It enables us to consider that there is an us. That we are individuals, with separate lives, passions, drives and longings, but that we are connected through a community of truths which we hold to be real and accurate; simple facts defining the very fabric of our world: This is not a pipe. You see with your eyes. This network unites all of us and it is through this, that I access others and life itself. It gives me meaning and gives meaning to the other things I do. It helps me to reach people and understand them, to communicate with them and to shape the world to my own perceptions and definitions. Language is an experience within itself that lends value to all my other experiences. This is why I write. I aspire to grow into a scholar. Into someone who not only possesses knowledge, but who masters it, who uses it to explore new ideas, craft new products and create art. But I realize, even as I type these letters, that this is my art. Writing is my sanctuary and my home. Language is my savior. So as a scholar, I hope to find beauty. Beauty in art, in my art. So I aspire to write. A large part of my connection to language is the role it has played all my life. I was born in Germany and lived there until I was 5 years old. My dad was not in the military; he was just a good ol American college graduate that up and left and went to Europe for 9 years. My mom is a native of Germany, although she is now a proud American citizen. I grew up with 2 native tongues. My dad spoke English to me, my mom only German. I started Kindergarten in the States already bilingual. This I consider a gift from my parents, a gift of language. In my childhood, I never stopped reading, from whence my love for writing developed. I have this connection with words and how they work, feel and sound. But you already know, or will discover, this so let me continue on about myself. I have lived in the same house on Pineridge Dr. in Huntersville, North Carolina for the past 13 years. I love to travel and to explore but I like the stability of a steady home and family. Change does not bother me, but I also like security. I would say that I am an explorer, but not a risk-taker. I love my family and my friends, although I would say that my high school years were spent as the hermit nerd, rather than the outgoing partyer. My brother is 14 years old and extremely athletic. Whatever gifts I may possess for academics, he has that X10 in his innate ability to play sports. He is humble and quiet, rather introverted unlike me. He is a watcher, getting to know people and things through observation, stepping in only once he is certain of what he is getting himself into. I admire this quality about him. My mom and my dad are both A-type personalities, which is why everything always gets done (one way or another) at home. My labradoodle is brown and fluffy and his name is Conner. I unabashedly admit that he is beautiful and an official member of our family since 2007. I love to play volleyball, to learn new things and meet new people and to look at the world. I like exercise, although I dont do it enough and staying healthy is very important to me. I am always curious and ready to engage mostly anyone. I am quite the perfectionist, which means I will work very hard, but possibly grow pesky with my constant questions. I see that I will run out of space soon but I think Ill run the risk of not following directions here, so that you might get to know more about me. My number one priority is to be a good person. To learn what it means to be a good person and then to follow that

8/17/13 code for all of my life. I try to reach out to others and to help them or improve their lives in some way, no matter how slight. And I try to learn as much as I can about the world, so that I might try to understand it. Truly understand it. In college, I am planning on studying International Studies, Public Relations (with an International focus) and German. I hope to minor in French and Anthropology. But I also want to continue writing so maybe what I really want to study is English. We will see. I am going to try out for the Club Volleyball team because the sport is one of the only things that can keep me balanced once I get rolling with my academic load. This is something I learned from my father, who passed on many of the values and lessons he learned playing D1 college football to me. One of my favorite books is Paradise Lost, I love Milton and Donne and poetry, and I am currently enraptured by David Foster Wallaces Infinite Jest. Cant forget about Harry Potter though, naturally. Hmm.what else? There is a lot but most of it cannot be formulated in a coherent essay to a teacher. I wrote an essay, modeled to Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that encompasses a whole lot more of myself. If you are ever interested in a little more insight into my crazy brain, that would be the place to go. I am slightly aware that Ive made this letter a lot less formal than deemed fit by general society and I apologize for that. Of all the things you should know about me, I think this is the most important: I am excited to learn. I am looking forward to my classes more than anything else in college. And I can promise that I will dedicate a lot of time and effort into improving my writing and myself. My favorite candy is black licorice and I went camping in Wyoming for 25 days. All that and more, Im sure you will discover about me. Thanks for this opportunity to relieve some of that pre-college freshman angst. See you Tuesday! Sincerely, Eileen Jakeway