Jamie Volpe
Writing 321
Audio Bio Reflection
When I sat down to write my Audio Bio, I wanted to share the things that I really felt like have made me who I am. I also wanted to consider who was going to be listening, like the refugees we are going to be interviewing. I wanted to keep their experiences in mind when talking about my experiences. This helped me start writing my narrative because it was so clear to me that my life and their life up to this point, has been a very different journey. Sharing something really personal like my grandfather's passing did feel a little weird. But I feel like it is a very important part of my life and has truly had something to do with who I have become. I hope that people recognize how much I had opened up in my essay in order for people to see who I really am. What I thought worked well with my piece, is the way I tried to openly recognize that my childhood was one that is considered privileged, where other people were not as fortunate to have a childhood like mine, where I was able to really be a kid and grow up. If I could do something differently now, I would probably talk more about my life instead of talking about aspects of it and analyzing how it was different from other people's. I feel I could have put in more of a story narrative rather than this overview of what it was like for me growing up. However, I do appreciate the way I considered other ways that people have grown up into the people we are today. I think that the overall quality of my essay is strong, it took many tries to run through the whole story without stuttering. I could have done it another time to get out every little-jumbled word but I felt the way I read my story was the way I would read it to someone in person. What I particularly enjoy in my essay is the use of the harmonica at the end, I found a sample of the harmonica that I think fit perfectly in the last few sentences of my essay. It ended my story on a light-hearted note where I feel people understand that my hardships have made me into who I am, while still being that little creative kid I always was.