My favorite writing assignment in my entire college career has to be the final essay I wrote for my PSY 35600 – Adolescence and Youth class in the Spring semester of 2021. The assignment asked us to analyze a fictional character from any form of media and their conflict, based on the certain studies, theories, methods, etc. that we had learned during the course of the semester. For my fictional character, I chose one of my most favorite characters in all of fiction: Prince Zuko from the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series and the internal conflicts he had to face being sixteen years old and an abuse victim of his father, who was the undisputed Monarch during the show.
The reason why this became my favorite writing assignment was solely because it became a passion project for me; I was allowed, for this assignment, to research and analyze all of the beautiful psychology of Prince Zuko’s growth as a character throughout the series. I was allowed to research and analyze scenes where he was clearly reacting violently and in-character with what his abuser, his father, would’ve wanted him to be instead of being his true, kind self. I was allowed to dissect all the nuances of Prince Zuko’s words, or even dissect the words said to him. While watching many of the scenes I had to rewatch for this writing project, I ended up becoming emotional. This is because I related to Prince Zuko’s struggle to be accepted by himself and by his father; to accept the kindness in his heart and to not lash out against the world who only wishes to love him.
I discovered, while writing, that this show was meant to be a kid’s show, despite it being violent at times. It’s because kids are allowed to see scenarios, even if they are fantasy and full of magic, that could relate to their lives now and could help them accept who they are (even as young as they are). It was meant to be a kid’s show because you get to see clear growth psychology of the characters and how they think about the world and how they react to it, not just their physical growth. These are important things to realize, or even just see, as kids because it helps you accept yourself as you grow up yourself.
Finally, it was through this essay, I was allowed to reflect on my growth as a person. I struggled a lot as an adolescent, but understanding the nuances of Prince Zuko’s story, it really did help me accept myself. After the assignment, I sent an email to my professor and thanked him for allowing me to do this project because of all of the things I learned in the class, being able to talk about one of the favorite characters in all of fiction, and all of the things I learned about myself.
I can’t think of specifics of which writing assignments I would deem “not-meaningful”, but I certainly understand that passion is needed for one to be truly connected to what they write. The easiest way to get passionate about writing is to have an emotional connection to the topic that you’re writing about.
