Rhyan White Dr.

Dietel-McLaughlin Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric 7 September 2012 Audio Narrative Reflection I found this project extremely difficult. I chose a time in my life where I experienced a lot of insecurities and self-doubt and when writing my first draft I found recalling these emotions very easy. I allowed my emotions to guide the paper and upon finishing the first draft I knew that it would be too long. I started with 1600 words and somehow managed to cut my word count down to 900 words. It was really hard because I found myself attached to every experience that I had shared that I felt was connected to my emotions and experience in this story. I described the many practices in detail because that was when I felt emotions the strongest. I felt very alone in a group of already acquainted girls and having to experience that every weekend was discouraging. I had to cut out a lot of these experiences because although it provided a lot of insight to my emotions it was not moving the story along. I also cut out references to my old team. My whole introduction was a scene with my team when I had found out that I made the team. It helped to show the contrast between the support I had with my high school team and how I didnt find that at the regional team. I made a lot of comparisons between the two teams because I often found myself doing that when I was contemplating whether or not I would stay with the regional team. I thought that these connections showed my depression a little bit better but without them I thought that the listener could still see my progression throughout the story.

The paragraphs that I found the hardest to remove were the ones that illustrated my interactions with the girls on the regional team. I think that throughout the revised story I gave off the impression that the girls were mean, but within these paragraphs I simply explained that they were all familiar with each other and because of that felt excluded. Also in these paragraphs I was able to share my interactions with the team when I became more familiar with them, and how that made my experience more enjoyable. This story has shaped who I am today. I am more confident in myself now and understand how important self-worth is. I think that despite a lot of the cuts I had to make I was still able to get that message across.