Jourdyn Alli

TOTUS
April 27, 2015
Reflection
Second Practicum and Course
My second and last practicum was on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, in Queen
Annes Hall. This event was hosted by Terpoets and welcomed a different crowd
from my first practicum. The venue was much smaller, so the amount of
individuals who could attend was limited. There were about 25 individuals who
came to the event and about of them were performing. I enjoyed this event
more because there were several other performers who were not a part of
TOTUS. This gave me the chance to witness other poets who I havent seen
perform yet.
The atmosphere was interesting because performers didnt have to use
the mic due to the small venue. This allowed me to vocalize as loud as I wanted
to without having to worry about the sound being too loud. I also liked that the
Terpoets community was very encouraging. They joked, which made nervous
performers feel comfortable and welcomed TOTUS performers with open arms. I
think I performed better for this event because I practiced this poem a lot more
than my last one. I had my poem finished weeks in advance and I had more time
to perfect my performance.
As for the course, I think it met all of my expectations. My biggest concern
coming into the class was the performances and I feel like I did a pretty good job
at both practicums. In the beginning of the course, Naliyah kept mentioning that
this experience would foster a community among its students. I can honestly say

that this came true. I only knew one other student in the class before attending it
and I now feel like I have a supportive family within TOTUS.
Through this class, I learned how to write different types of poetry:
freeverse and docupoetry. I also learned how to publicly perform poetry. Before
this class, I have never performed on a public stage and now I have done it
twice. This experience has also taught me how to take comments and revise my
poetry based on suggestions. This was difficult for me at first because sometimes
I didnt agree with the suggestions. This forced me to make decisions on which
parts of my poems to sacrifice based on comments made.
One main takeaway from this course is that a lot can be said about society
in a creative format. Through the many prompts we were given, each writer was
able to present his or her position on issues differently. Another takeaway from
this course was that everyone has some sort of creativity within. Many of the
students in TOTUS introduced themselves as not being creative, or a poet. As
the semester went on, they proved themselves wrong with artistic pieces.
I think TOTUS could benefit from linking assignments to Elms. Throughout
the semester, several students wouldnt participate in the poem prompts and this
would create a very inactive discussion online. If students received grades for
making the deadlines with their poetry, I think more individuals would make sure
to post their work on the TOTUS site. I also think TOTUS should try to invite
poets from around the area to come in and speak to the class. This would be an
awesome experience for students to learn from other poets and receive
performance tips from them.