Today we had Deborah Emmanuel, an ex-drug offender and poet came to visit us. She shared a lot of her poems and information about her life. She identifies as a Singaporean and does not believe in the CMI system (Chinese, Malay, Indian). She was very explicit with her poems but I found it very cool as she was so passionate about expressing art and her life story through poetry (p.s she is a great singer). Many students asked her about what she felt like when she was in prison and when she was going through very tough times. She said that she did not have any regrets because if she didn’t go to prison, she wouldn’t be the person she is today. She also mentioned that she had no regrets in life. I found that very interesting because if I was in the shoes of Ms Emmanuel, I would definitely turn back time and change things I asI would not be able to cope with going to prison.
I really like the way you express her side of her story, but this sounded more like a summary than a blogpost. I want to hear what this made you feel, what this made you think, the things that her talk has opened your eyes to. I would really like to hear why you felt as though if you were her you’d make the different decisions you said you would. It would also be great if you included more about how her experiences relate to you and how you would act and behave in related situations differently after the talk.
The last sentence in your blog made me think about if it can possibly be a beneficial experience to go to prison. Personally, I wouldn’t want to go to prison, but Deborah said that all of her experiences were needed, but it seems that you disagree with this (which is not a problem). Coming to the point, this sentence made me wonder why you think this. You organized the paragraph well and gave good points. As a continuation of this topic, I am wondering, do you think her explicit language helped her bring her point? If so why? Well written!
Thank you very much Jamo for your feedback. When Deborah spoke explicitly, I felt it helped the crowed feel what she was feeling during her tough times