English and Drama/ English and Classical studies

As I witnessed a production of Anton Chekhov's 'The Seagull', watching how utterly obsessive and enamoured by literature Konstantin was, a quote from another author, Donna Tartt, at last made sense to me. "I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive". I, like Konstantin, am utterly entranced by literature in all its forms, poetry, prose, drama, classical writings, and I understand now that obsession runs deep in my soul, its roots buried in my heart and thus my passion for literature has bloomed.

M. L. Rio too writes about this passion in her novel 'If We Were Villains', how her characters believe "in Shakespeare's world, passion is irresistible.". Perhaps both Tartt and Rio's writings aim to explore how obsessions and passions in life are the things that drive us, how we must find the things that drive us and collect them, threading them into our own hearts. And thus, through my studies in literature and further studies in university, I will find myself.

Spending my own time reading poetry by authors such as Rossetti and Coleridge, has deepened my passion through the years for literature and its forms. Rossetti's lyrical way of writing, with her metaphorical breaths taken between lines underscored by colons and the accentuated emotions pulled from words shown with her use of hyphens, really pushes poetry to a new world, moulding the reading experience into something highly personal and individualistic.

Coleridge's poem 'Answer to A Child's Question', my personal favourite poem, has widened my eyes to the analytical experience to immersing yourself in literature, as even simplistic lines such as "I love My Love, and My Love loves me" connote such beautiful imagery of continuous love, especially through the repetitious personal pronouns and phrase "My Love". Alongside this, I have been spending around an hour a day studying Latin and Greek on Duolingo in order to read classical texts such as Homer's 'Iliad' in their original language, as I wish to experience its complex beauty in its purest form.

By performing works by authors such as Dickens with my theatre company, whom I spent roughly four years with, I was able to fully and totally immerse myself into the world Dickens was intending to create. Acting as characters, for instance, Bill Sykes, gave me a chance to dedicate myself and analyse what exactly a character's intentions are.

My old theatre company taught me to think creatively and fast, to always bring forth new exciting ideas to group sessions. The compatibility it also taught me will aid me well in the future, especially within group work and within sharing ideas over pieces of texts. Similarly, I was taught the art of listening and understanding from my time spent as a peer mentor at both my high school and sixth form. This tasked me with meeting with a younger student once a week to discuss and help with work they may be struggling with at school or issues they may be facing themselves. The ability to understand what another person is trying to say, is a useful skill as it broadens one's understanding of others opinions.

I've had laughs when I mention my dream in life is to be a teacher, spending the majority of my life educating others, and so this caused me to reflect intensively on this dream of mine. And as I've realised, it's not about the repetitiveness of education, it's about the freedom knowledge can bring, a freedom I witnessed in the children I taught during my week long work experience at my former primary school.

Seeing the spark of realisation in the kids' faces when they finally understand the significance of alliteration, watching them being utterly invested in the story being read to them, is the most rewarding feeling one could experience. Thus inspiring me more into my want to further my studies and be the reason others find joy in education.