Thank You to People Who Ask Questions

The first session of the English Symposium that I attended was the Writing 150 Award Winners and going into to it I didn't know what to expect. My reaction to the fact that it would simply be a reading of people's essays did not deter me however, I drew the entire time to make sure I kept my focus. It didn't really surprise me that most of them were personal essays, I just didn't know that was an option to write on. I did enjoy the two research papers that there were, particularly the one on 3-D printed firearms. Maybe it was because it contrasted so much with the other essays, but it was very interesting and well thought out.

The second session I attended was the My English+ Stories and it was incredibly interesting and diverse. I enjoyed the format of the presentations as they each had 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide, with a total of 5 minutes per slide. There were a few that covered their study abroad trips and although that did not rekindle my old desires to do that, I found it fun to hear their stories. One person in particular named Isaac mentioned Doctor Burton several times, I bet he is proud to have had an influence in this young man's life. There were a few entrepreneurs in the group which was fascinating and really cool to see what they have been able to accomplish. Overall it was cool to hear how important an English degree can be, and how passionate people are about it.

To give an explanation to my title, we had time at the end of each session for questions. Neither of the groups were very large and the threat of awkward silence was imminent. Thankfully a soul or two would ask questions, and the participants did their best (more or less) not to answer so awkwardly that anyone spontaneously exploded. For the English+ panel someone asked how to respond when you tell someone you're an English major and they ask if your teaching. There were a few good suggestions, some more sassy than others.