• What is your guiding, underlying question?

How does exposing yourself to nature and “getting off the grid” affect your creativity?

• Include any sub-questions you have identified.

How does Terry Tempest Williams use place based writing to explore current events and mental health?

• Why do these questions matter? Are they connected to some prior experience? Curiosity? Wonder? What’s the story?

I studied a little bit of TTW writing in the past when I was at my semester school. It was a really great outlet for me especially when I was homesick and needed to write how I felt or if I was stressed with school it was a fun way to articulate main ideas I was trying to get across. I also believe some of my best writing was during that time and in a natural environment. Also on top of covid-19 it is hard to find time to get outside and be creative and keep up the motivation for the things you are passionate about. This project will allow me to do that as well as reflecting on current event happening in our country. Ive been craving nature and being outdoors plus I miss the feeling of being proud of something I have written.

When I was at my semester School,  I studied Terry Tempest Williams a lot. Her writing always stuck out to me and I kept finding myself wanting to read more. One day my English teacher came up to me and said that Terry Tempest Williams will be doing a book reading of her new book Erosion at a library nearby. She said I could go with her to the book reading as well as a few other students who really enjoyed her writing. When we were there she read a few pages from her book and then  opened up for questions. I raised my hand and asked, “ how do you stay sane when writing about this? You write about such difficult topics and hard times in your life but you do it with such beauty. It must be hard to continue to write about this when it’s so heavy.”  She answered with stories about her brother who died and she thought she would never be able to get past it. She said she thought she would never be able to show up to his funeral and move on from this.  she explained. In writing Erosion it helped her talk out her thoughts while still appreciating all the things she has around her like nature. And she soon realized that if she can get over her brother’s death then she can do anything. And that’s a message she wanted to get across to everyone when it comes to environmental issues or politics or mental health issues. You can get through anything .

• What if any steps, experiences, or products have you identified as necessary for answering your essential question?

I know I will need to read more of TTW’s work and luckily I have many of her books. I will then need to do my own writing  indoors. The most difficult part to plan is the actual hikes. Luckily my parents visit Utah each year for a race and said I could come with them and do hikes nearby. I am also able to drive upstate to various national parks where I can sit and write surrounded by beauty. I also have TTW email from back in my semester school when I wrote to her about her books and what Erosion means to me. I have already talked to my English teacher from my semester school about setting up a meeting with them.

• What form do you propose your project take? Explain what you already know about the area of study or professional field you will be immersed in. Describe how you hope to spend your time during Senior Project. (This should be largely the same idea you’ve developed based on your feasibility work.) Be as specific as possible given that you are still in the early stages. Includes your hoped-for schedule, and products from the project, and as many details as you have identified thus far. For independent projects, your proposal should include the space(s) where you will work and a preliminary schedule as well as the body of work you plan to accomplish. How will you document the story of your project? What products will you produce?

 I would like to make a poetry book by the end of this. Something like Terry Tempest Williams own writing. Her writing is not the normal poetry you usually see. It is poetry in the language she uses but in the actual form it is more  like small essays. I would also include photos from these hikes and quotes from Terry Tempest William herself. Whenever I’m not hiking I will be reading Terry Tempest Williams, taking notes from her work, and  analyzing the things she writes. This also gives me the space to continue with any X-block, clubs and/or sports if they are available during the Spring.

I can do most of this from home. Obviously I will have to travel to different places to do the hikes. But at any week where I’m not able to do that I can always walk to Central Park which is near my house and do place based writing there. The best part about place based writing is that you can be anywhere and do it.

• What do you hope to learn through this experience? How do you see the proposed experience addressing your essential question? How will you know you have had a successful project? How will you tell the story of your project?

 hope to not only learn more about Terry Tempest Williams and her writing,  But also more about this kind of poetry, how my creative brain works through quarantine, and thinking deeper about current events happening around me.  I will have a completed poetry book by the end of this,  which will include my own writing, my analysis on Terry Tempest Williams writing, and quotes from conversations I’ve had about this.  The story of my project will show through my own writing and how am I creative process went.