Community Corner

Writing at Simon's Rock

Rye Patch asked our readers to contribute stories about how they've spent their summer. Here, Blind Brook's Rachel Simon details how she's been putting pen to paper at a Young Writer's Workshop.

When I arrived at Simon's Rock College in Massachusetts on July 25, I was greeted not by a staff member's warm welcome or an introductory activity, but by a trail of words stretching across campus that I was told to follow, no questions asked.

I walked through plethora and conundrum with extreme apprehension, already wondering if I had gone to the wrong program. I had applied to the three-week Young Writer's Workshop so I could write freely, not to study for the SAT. Yet here I was, surrounded by 83 other high school students, following words to an unknown destination.

Flash forward 15 hours- I'm sitting in a classroom with 11 students and a teacher, Mary, and I am reading aloud a poem I've written just a few minutes before. When I finish, I receive feedback — real, helpful comments about structure and flow—not the aggravating English class mumbles of "I liked it" and "It was good."

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After my piece is finished, someone else reads theirs and we respond—and so on, and so on, until Mary gives us a new prompt. At the end of each week, we compile a portfolio of our best work, on which Mary and the other students comment and reflect. This—the furious, passionate writing, the insightful comments from peers who actually care, the satisfaction of doing what I love, every single day—is why I came here.

After class, I am free for the rest of the day. I go to the gym, walk with friends the twenty minutes it takes to get to the quaint town of Great Barrington, or watch a movie in the lounge of my dorm. Sometimes, there are dances or bonfires or relaxing nights of stargazing on the grass. I have homework every night, but it's writing, not math. I can't complain too much about having to do my favorite pastime.

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Any ounce of trepidation I had on that first night was gone the minute I sat down in the classroom, greeted by sheets of blank paper and a teacher who was set on helping us be the best writers we could. I made friends who, like me, wanted to balance writing and having fun, and we've done just that.

As for now, I'm perfectly content at Simon's Rock- let's hope the remaining days are just as good.

Rachel Simon is a junior at Blind Brook High School.


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