The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

62 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 4 After the meeting I talked to Erin as we walked outside of the YMCA. “Do we really have to make bills as good as ‘real’ bills?” I asked. “Katelyn, this isn’t a joke. We’re going to be spending four days in Harrisburg conducting a mock government. This is a rare opportunity. As a representative, if you want to embarrass yourself, and our group, by having a poorly written bill – that’s on you. But really, find something you’re passionate and work for that. It’ll get easier.” Now I sat at my desk. The white pages were all over, only allowing the dark desk to be seen in snippets or corners. Papers were shoved into shelving, placed under books, crumpled up and dismissed. If anything, this desk was a trash can. Forgotten ideas, broken pens, and empty soda cans were hiding throughout the mounds of paper. Paper that together created a monster. It consumed everything, the desk, the room. I spent most of the time “thinking of topics,” but really looking out of the window. If anything was an escape from writing, Facebook was such an easy one. As I was aimlessly scrolling past the “If you love Satan scroll by, but if you love the Lord hit the like button,” I saw a post about anti-vaccinations and how it’s so important to vaccinate. Intrigued, I started researching vaccinations. In my research I learned that the study that anti-vaccine believers use was debunked and rejected by the medical world. Having spent a year and a half working in a hospital, I knew that I wanted to write a bill to protect these young children. The next two weeks I spent endlessly researching for my bill, constructing a compelling argument and pouring over documents. The bright light of my computer screen and I were the only things awake at that time of night. I never liked writing, but here my writing had actual purpose. No longer was this an essay about a book I disliked or an assigned research topic. My words finally had power. A month into the program I presented the rough draft of my bill. Every word painstakingly chosen; every comma a child. “Wow Katelyn! This is pretty good. I mean, you need to revise, but it’s nice,” Erin said. Now I was one step closer to making change. Harrisburg here I come! So I went back to the drawing board to craft my masterpiece.