Writing Task: Autobiographical Sketch

First Discussion Board Assignment: Autobiographical Sketch

In any course it is important for you to know your classmates. Much of the learning and enjoyment of the course comes from interacting with others. But with an Internet course such as this one, we may not have occasion to meet face-to-face. Therefore, in order for us to be able to attach individuals to the names we will see, the first assignment is for you to write an autobiographical sketch as a way of introduction.

Of course, you will want to include basic factual information such as the area you live in, where you went to school, where you work and so forth. But in addition you should include information about those personal interests and experiences which make you an individual.

Some of you may have home pages where you have posted photographs or given additional information. You may want to give the URL so that others can visit. However, for this assignment, give as complete and as accurate a portrait as you can in a couple of well developed paragraphs.

Another purpose of this assignment is to let you practice posting your work on the Blackboard Discussion Board. Here is what you do:

Write an autobiographical sketch of at least 400 words.

Give a brief identification at the top of your sketch: your name, the class (e.g. Eng 112), the number of the assignment (1).

Post your file on the Discussion Board called "Autobiographical Sketch" following these directions.

My Autobiographical Sketch

I was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1942 and grew up in the Tidewater area except for the war years of 1942 through 1944 when my family lived in Washington D.C. At that time, my Dad was in the navy and was studying at Bliss Radio School. When we moved back to Norfolk county, we lived in a house on Indian Road which my grandfather had built. When I was eleven, we moved to Princess Anne County where I attended Kemphsville Middle School and Princess Anne High School.
I graduated in 1960 and attended Ferrum College for two years before transferring to William and Mary. When I graduated from William and Mary, I taught middle school and high school in Chesapeake. During that time, I began graduate work in English at Old Dominion University. This was the period of the Viet Nam war and the hippies. I protested the war and did a lot of things that I don't remember or would prefer to forget.
After getting my master's degree in English from ODU, I joined a bunch of hippies in a commune in Kentucky where I ended up working as a deck hand on a river boat. Later I became a river pilot and got my merchant marine officer's papers. During this time, I bought a rough hill farm and lived in a log cabin. The boat work was hard and nearly killed me, so I quit in 1978 and joined a friend and his wife on a six months stay in Oxford, England where I relaxed, wrote poetry, saw the sights, and met interesting people.
When I came back to the states in 1978, I began graduate work at the McGuffy Reading Center at the University of Virginia. I got my Ph.D. in reading education in 1982 and moved to Georgia to teach at Brunswick Junior College. After three years, I left Georgia for North Carolina where I taught at Mount Olive College near Goldsboro for seven years.
I finally returned to Virginia in 1992 when I began work at Southside Community College. I am quite content here, being near the mountains and not too far from Tidewater when I want to visit family and old friends.

Documents Common to Several Courses

First Discussion Board Assignment: Autobiographical Sketch

My Autobiographical Sketch