My Journey to Here

By Theodora “Teddi” Johnson

I attempted to start on this journey to pursue my M.A. in Rhetoric and Writing in 1990 when I moved from Flint, Michigan back to Arkansas, but I said, I’ll wait until my children get a little older; then, I said I’ll wait until they get out of high school; then I said I’ll wait until they graduate from college. And I did—almost. When I signed on to become a Literacy Coach in my school district, I learned that one of the stipulations for the job was to complete a master’s degree, so I said, I can’t wait any more. I didn’t, and I applied at University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). I knew I didn’t want another degree in English, nor did I want another degree in education. I was very interested, however, in technical writing, so I applied for the graduate program, declared a major in Professional, Technical Writing, and was informed that I had to wait some more. I was directed to Dr. Karen Kuralt, the department chair, who informed me that my G.P.A was too low (2.4) to get into the program—it had to be at least at 3.0—but that I could enroll as a post-bac student, take some courses, pull up my grade point, and re-enroll as a grad. That was a glimmer of hope for me, so I did as she said. I call those first two years of my journey—the post-bac years—my ‘redemption years’ or ‘humble beginnings’; the years I spent redeeming myself of all the reasons I completed my under-graduate years with such a low showing.

During my redemption years, I took these four courses that helped me develop my writing: Literature in Film, Creative Writing, Writing for the Workplace, and Persuasive Writing. While in those classes, I worked hard to make the grades I needed to get my grade point out of purgatory, but they not only served as I thought, easy classes—because they were not—they made me face some truths about my writing and helped me improve my writing skills. As I reflect back on those first years that I worked to gain entrance to a field I had wanted to pursue for years and on the classes I signed up for, I can see where they served as just what I needed to get prepared for the graduate-level classes.

After four semesters of work, I finally acquired the desired grade point and was admitted into the graduate program. It has been a journey to go from a digital immigrant to a digital learner and user. It has been a journey to watch my writing skills and increased knowledge about writing mature, and it has been a journey to finally arrive at this point of defending my portfolio that showcases my growth as a writer and rhetorician. I hope the work you see showcases my love of writing, my growth as a writer, and my use of technology to bring life to the writing.