Categories
Intro to Creative Writing

Non-fiction

This lesson was to write at least 3 paragraphs from our memoir and at least 3 from our autobiography. This one was tough for me, I’m not much on sharing my personal life, which may sound weird since I have a blog, but if you look carefully, other than not caring about what people think because I don’t like them anyway, I don’t think I’ve given much about myself away.

In any case, this is what I submitted. Now you know something about my distant past.

Update 2023-03-01:

I received full points for this assignment as well. Below is the instructor’s feedback.

🙂 great. Thanks for the info.

Memoir:

It was the middle of the fall semester.  My best friend and I were crossing the mostly empty campus toward the Student Union building to grab something to eat before our first class when he suddenly noticed a girl he knew crossing about 50 ft in front of us.  He yelled, “Michele!” and waved his hands above his head, as if she wouldn’t notice the only other people around; the 250lb, 6’2” mostly bald guy or his sidekick in the cowboy boots and full-length black overcoat.  She stopped and was a little panicked, as she later confessed,  at having a couple of guys yelling at her when no one else was around.

As we got closer she recognized my friend and relaxed.  I thought she was cute.  We learned that she had just started attending that semester and didn’t know anyone yet.  My friend worked part-time as a line cook at a local 24-hour restaurant my group of friends often hung out and we invited her to meet there after his shift.   To my delight she agreed, so we set a time and continued our separate ways.

That night I showed up a little before my friend’s shift was over and claimed a booth.  Michele showed up right about the time my friend got off shift and we drank coffee and ate appetizers while we got to know each other better.   They reminisced about the things they had done.  We told her about the school and the town.  And then, according to Michele, my friend and I fell into the nerd zone and talked about Computer Science stuff.  It was after midnight when we finally went our separate ways.  On my way home I thought I would ask her out, but I realized I didn’t get her phone number.

The next day was Friday and my friend and I didn’t have classes together, so I called him to get her number.  Before I could ask for it though, he excitedly told me he had called her and made a date.  I was a little crushed but I wished him good luck, while secretly hoping he would make an ass of himself so she wouldn’t like him.  I didn’t hear from him on Saturday, so I assumed the date had gone well and was busy.  But, Sunday I called him to see how the date went, and he told me that all she talked about was me and that she wanted me to call her.  Needless to say, I was happy and called her immediately to set up our first date.

Autobiography: 

In the Spring of 1989, I started attending CSU Chico with a Computer Science major.  A friend introduced me to a friend of his that had started the semester before me and both of us being Computer Science majors quickly became good friends.  My first semester was pretty uneventful, filled with a lot of role-playing games, going to parties and bars, sprinkled with a little time in class and the computer lab.  But mostly hanging out and drinking.

The fall semester started off the same way, but one morning, when my friend and I were crossing the campus on our way to the Student Union building to grab some food before class, we ran into someone he knew from his time at the community college he attended the previous year, Michel.  She had just started attending that semester and didn’t have many friends or know much about the town.   We invited her to meet at a local 24-hour restaurant where my friend worked, which she accepted.

I thought she was cute and was excited to meet with her again.  She arrived a little after I did and at about the same time, my friend got off his shift.   We introduced ourselves and talked about stuff, school, home, and mutual friend, before my friend and I descended into nerd-dom and started talking computers.  A little after midnight, Michele said she needed to go, she had an early class.

I had decided I was going to ask her out but failed to get her phone number the day before, so I called my friend to get it from him but learned he had asked her out already.   I was disappointed but wished him luck with the date.  However, I found out that Michele had only talked about me and asked about me during their date and that she wanted me to call her.  I was elated and called her immediately.

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