Individual Artist Project

The evidence of my classes being a benefit to the community has been articulated to me by the class participants. One student said, ?This is what I have been looking for, it's the best thing since I moved back to Grand Rapids.? Another student said her daughter signed her up and she didn't want to come, she had never taken a writing class before. Now she has finished her second class and has all these ideas for things she wants to write. A colleague and friend of mine, Susan Hawkinson, emailed me the other night and said one of the students in my class had attended her (Susan's) presentation at the Mac and said she has taken several of my classes and that she has learned so much. It is difficult to measure what impact this project will have because the future is unknown, but based on what I know and what I have recently discovered, I think this project will allow a discussion to happen about a topic we shy away from. By having a format and showcasing writers who have written about their experiences, it is sure to allow for more conversations that I hope will ripple out, just like news of a class ripples out. I am hopeful, and of course a bit anxious about seeing how it will turn out. My hunch is that it will surpass my expectations, just as my classes at the Mac have done. ; Bringing writers together is my first goal. My second goal is to have those writers bring the community together as they show by example how they have navigated the perils of a pandemic and survived to write about it. My goals are measurable. To have writer's sign up for the sessions, to write on the assignments, to participate in the larger community as they share their experiences through reading and discussion. In this project, I will go with one of Oprah's famous sayings, ?When you step towards your goal, it steps towards you.? I am optimistic about the goals of this project. I have been known to tell people ?If I can complete a Ph.D. program and dissertation while working full time, I can do most anything.? My parents were very hard workers and I have inherited their work ethic. I work well with deadlines. Being in the classroom for thirty years, commuting to Duluth to teach in twenty-below weather, raising two successful adults, surviving the pandemic, all have taught me that life is about moving forward and carrying on. In my classes at the MacRostie I tell everyone when they walk through the door that they already have an A, that they don't need to write anything if they don't feel like it, and that by the end of class they will all have a Ph.D. because they showed up. There is always a lot of laughter then, and it breaks the ice. Writers are most of all a fragile group of folks. So I will not let them (or the folks at the Mac) down by being late, or backing out of this project once underway. ; Success will be assessed by each session. If writer's sign up, session by session, perhaps signing up for all three in advance, that will be success. If writer's attend the sessions that is another success. I will also be asking for feedback from every writer at the beginning and end of each class and after all the sessions are over. I will frame the questions, asking them how they measure success as a writer personally, as a group, and as a community. So, success for me is when one writer might share a story about how much their writing means to their family, church group or ailing parent. Writing they might not have done before this project. Even though I want to always strive for 100% as success in anything, life seldom is that way. So I have had to learn that 110% from one writer is enough to make a lasting impression, a success. Doing the best I can to achieve my goals feels successful to me. Writing this grant has been a successful endeavor.