Why College Students Should Write Poetry

By: Lilly Kate Diaz ‘20

In the words of John Keating (played by Robin Williams) from Dead Poets’ Society:

Okay, so yes – I am a little biased when it comes to poetry because I, myself, am a poet.

But in this post, I’m going to tell you why college students (and honestly, everyone) should write poetry.

1. Find Your Voice

Poetry is all about discovering others’ thoughts and your own as well. It’s a way where you can express your ideas and maybe find others that believe in your thoughts. You can discover if you’re a comedic person, a serious person, an emotional person, etc.

2. Step Outside of Yourself

Whether you’re writing it or reading someone else’s work, poetry has this way of transporting the reader to a different realm. Poetry isn’t always in first person POV. It isn’t always a “true” poem. Sometimes, poetry is just fictional, and sometimes you’ll find an autobiography in poem form.

This concept of stepping out of your body lets you see yourself from a different perspective. And to give a personal insight, whenever I write poetry, it’s spontaneous – I even feel like I’m not in the room in which I’m writing in.

3. Social and Emotional Learning

I personally believe that poetry has its own curriculum to teach us how to react to others’ thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. We learn how our emotions works and how poetry is a creative outlet for when our emotions are too much to hold inside ourselves. Like short stories, nursery rhymes, and bedtime stories, poetry has the ability to teach morals (or the lack of). Poetry helps with what we (individually) believe is “right” or “wrong”.

4. Appreciation for Poetry/Literature

Another personal insight: I want to be a teacher (and a professor) in my life. I want to introduce and give students the opportunity to learn about great works of poetry and literature. These works have a significant purpose in our lives – why else would we still be reading them in primary, secondary, and post-secondary school? What their purpose is, of course, up to you. Who knows? Maybe you might end up finding/discovering a poet/writer who knows EXACTLY how you feel/think.

5. You ARE Interesting

And for those of you who don’t think you are interesting – sToP.

YOU ARE INTERESTING.

You may have ideas that might coincide with others’ thoughts. You may have ideas/thoughts that no one has ever thought of before! You and your thoughts are welcome in the realm of poetry (that is of course, they don’t target harm at anyone or group).

As I end this post, I just want to leave you with some final thoughts: poetry/literature is so good for the soul. It allows us to connect with others, understand ourselves, and see the world in different perspectives. So if you don’t write, try writing. If you don’t like it, then you don’t. But if you try it and you end up liking it, then that’s great! Writing is what has allowed humankind to deliver stories to others, to express emotions, feelings, ideas, and thoughts. Poetry itself is a creative outlet, where you can express YOUR thoughts, YOUR emotions, YOUR EVERYTHING.

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