From Creative Writing at Ursinus to learning to “enjoy the ride.”

“Writing is difficult. The process involves countless hours and endless edits, assuming that you know exactly what you want to say. If you don’t, then I have an equation that sums up the daunting task: Blank Page x Frustration + Ripping Hair Out = Words Strung Together. Nevertheless, there are special moments that make being an author worth the sleepless nights, and my debut novel Dispatch is just one of them.

With a major in Health and Exercise Physiology and minors in Wellness Education and English, my classes, exams, and essays, while worth the effort, left little time to write for fun. Diving into a Creative Writing course at Ursinus made me long to work on my novel even more.

As the years passed, my novel unfinished yet never forgotten, I was determined to complete my goal, if only for myself.

Little did I know the impact that Dispatch would have on others. Acquaintances and Ursinus alumni reached out via phone and social media to congratulate me on my accomplishment. But best of all, Dispatch allowed my readers to look deeply inside themselves and at the world around them; to confront uncomfortable situations; and to grapple with what it means to be a human who makes mistakes. To know that my readers have been impacted by my work is a writer’s greatest hope, which makes all of those countless hours and endless edits more bearable.

I’ll leave you with a metaphor for life, and a theme of Dispatch: Enjoy the ride!”-Christina Jarjisian ’18