Letters of a Voyage

Here's the first weekly essay. It is a reaction to an article in the New York Times about educators discouraging best friendships from forming in their classrooms. It doesn't deal as closely with the article as I would like. I learned a valuable lesson about writing in response to another piece without the piece in front of you. Mostly that you shouldn't do it. As a result my essay is not as tight as I would like it to be. I felt myself torn between wanting to make my point and wanting to tell a story, and it also feels a little preachy at points. But I figure it's better to just post it and move on--that's part of the one essay a week deadline, I need to learn to move on.

Also, and this goes for everything, there will be typos. If my writing was going anywhere near anyone or anything that might consider it for publication, you can bet there wouldn't be a typo in the surrounding 25 square miles, but for now, c'est la vie. That being said, if there is something garish and humiliating, feel free to let me know.