This was the first class I took with all honors students. We were given the liberty to create our own final project as a class that we worked on throughout the course of the year. The independence to create a final project was liberating, and the project ended up being one of the most memorable as well. The topic of my English 400 class was the “Rhetoric of Apology.” I learned about accountability, self-awareness, and sincerity that will stick with me for life.

I included a copy of a prayer that I read and wrote at a monthly prayer breakfast at the Moton Museum at the end of the semester. This prayer was an act of accountability for the past actions of the white Farmville community during the desegregation of Prince Edward Public Schools. This prayers indirectly addresses the people from the past and present at the same time. We acknowledged the wrongdoings while pledging to create a better future.

This project in English 400 gave me the ability to connect community and scholarship. Our audience was primarily African American members of the Prince Edward community, and to see the hope that we created in their eyes was well worth all of the hard work over the semester. I would never have signed up for this class if it weren’t for the Honors College, but it is by far the most impactful and important for life that I have taken thus far.