speak up, I want to hear your voice

My first assignment for my English 305-Creative Nonfiction class. We had to write a paragraph about our voice, and where it came from.

Emily Sexton
Engl. 305
8/27/07


My voice has been performing ever since I can remember. If there are people present, I have an audience, and my voice wants to be heard. My older sister has always been ambitious, smart, and, well, older… so I grew up in her shadow. My voice learned how to compensate for being number two in the family by being loud, funny, and animated. If I wasn’t singing, I was laughing, if I wasn’t laughing, I was retelling a dramatic event, if I wasn’t doing that, I was using my voice to entertain or receive a reaction one way or another. My voice can never be boring, so it must be exciting, passionate, and vivacious. My voice cannot be lost in someone else’s wake, so it always screams, always responds, always makes noise of some sort… and always finds ways to please whoever may be listening. I am the energetic one, with the ever-changing voice.