Tegbir Kaur Week 16 - A Eulogy to Blogging 2024-2025

Dearly Beloved (too soon?),

We are gathered here today to mourn (celebrate) the end of a chapter—the end of our journey with blogging for APENG, a closing reflective of the end of junior year.

Remember that very first blog? When the theme of identity seemed so daunting and we were still frantically wondering whether we needed an MLA heading on our post. But, slowly, as we explored our anti-prejudice texts and became more comfortable with the nuances and overlaps of the vast concept of identity, we dug a little deeper than just the surface level. It became less about having everything about ourselves figured out and more about coming to terms about the parts of us that contradict and don’t always make logical sense. 

Or when The Great Gatsby became our main focus, and with context exploration and synthesis writing, we switched our attention to analyzing America—the famed “American Dream” and the gradual disillusionment at the state of the country. The blogs then became less introspective and more critical, as we challenged the messages we regularly consume while still holding out the possibility for a better future. 

And just like that, the end of the first semester was near, and we emerged half-relieved, half-terrified that we had to do it all over again. But even with the inevitable burn-out and the gradual draining of our souls (not to be dramatic) came one important shift. It no longer felt necessary for our blogs to be literary masterpieces, strictly academic and analytical. After being exposed to a whole new cohort (shoutout!) with completely different writing voices, blogging came to be like just another yap session with a friend, which is sometimes the most productive—an informal account that was personal and with its own humorous touches. As we grappled with the imbalances and complexities of power through literature like The Crucible, blogging became less about stressing over a grammar error and more about saying the things we wanted to say but largely went unsaid.

And last came the theme of memory in Quarter 4, as books like Everything I Never Told You and Beloved challenged our preconceived notions about such an incredibly human function. As we found ourselves closer to the finish line which had seemed so unreachable when we sat down to type up our very first identity blog, it became much easier to look back fondly at our naivety, thinking about junior year has grabbed us by the throat and forced us to grow up. 

With said “growing up” came a deeper appreciation for the rare creative assignment, the kind that was not dictated by strict rubrics. The kind of assignment where not every sentence has to be pondered over, not every word has to be perfect—it can just be our raw truth. 

And even though we (okay fine, I) complained about the added Wednesday-night load, it became a much-needed reconnection to the roots of writing as a form of self-expression. I’d like to thank you all and Blogger for providing a much needed break from the usual, stringent academic writing. So with that, I’ll leave you with the most profound of phrases: bye, Felicia!