The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

33 “Getting There” by Aubrey Gillette Instructor’s Notes This essay is an example of a Literacy Memoir. The instructor asked Aubrey and her classmates to write an essay that explored how a literacy event made a lasting impact on the writer’s life. Often times a school assignment becomes more meaningful than we could ever have imagined. How does Aubrey’s high school composition assignment allow her to discover important ideas about herself, her goals in life, and her future? How do the two “desk” scenes that Aubrey represents in the essay demonstrate her maturing process to readers? Why might this personal essay have value for a reader? Writer’s Biography Aubrey is a sophomore Psychology major from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She loves learning, especially through reading, and she collects lessons from the mentors in her life. Aubrey enjoys both long distance mission trips and local adventures in the great outdoors. Her highest priorities in life include her relationships with her Creator and with her loved ones. Getting There Hundreds of little feet ran down the dry, orange dirt road, eager to get to the clinic. The muggy air did not prevent the children from hustling across the rocks and mud into town. “Muzungu! Muzungu!” the mass of children yelled, referring to the white people they spotted through the crowd. The muzungus, Americans, constructed a small clinic to remove jiggers—nasty flea-like critters—by jabbing a metal surgical utensil through layers of skin and tearing out the bugs from their little feet before providing them with shoes to wear home. Wherever their home was. Some of these feet walked home to small huts. Others were not so fortunate. Many of the children would return to