BLUE
This blog post was written for the MIW Gateway Blog, and it is unlike any of my other posts in that it was truly spontaneous. I had the word blue on my brain one day during a biology class, and I knew I needed to get my thoughts out. Although I really wanted to pull out my computer to start typing furiously, I didn’t want to reveal that I was paying absolutely no attention. I started handwriting in my notebook, something I hadn’t done in years. It was really beautiful to see how everything played out on paper, with all the little scratch-outs and add-ins. This is one of my favorite pieces of my writing because it really signals my transition into the more raw and creative writing that I began doing throughout the Gateway course. Writing this blog post made me so much more confident in my ability to write more than just the literary analysis essays with which I had become very comfortable.
The Big House. My homecoming dress from junior year of high school. The veins so clearly seen on the inside of my wrist that carry deoxygenated blood. My physics notebook. The stripes on the shirt I’m wearing as I write this, the flowers on my scarf, and the pencil with which I am handwriting this. Blue—all of these things are blue.
Blue has been my favorite color since I snapped out of the pink and purple phase that consumed much of my early childhood—I blame Barbie for that. My room went from pink with teddy bears to a bright aqua blue with butterflies (embarrassing) and my walls have housed some shade of blue ever since. As I got older, I found that I was gravitating towards this color that I now yell after the word “go” at football games.
Something about the color blue speaks to me. It can be a bright blue, reminding me of that perfect ocean shade you can only seem to find in the Caribbean. It can also be a rich, deep blue that calms you and grabs you at the same time, commanding your attention. It’s almost bright, even though it’s dark.
Blue is so much more than a color, though. As a life-long Michigan fan and U of M student, it has become a pride thing. Blue is our color. It shows up everywhere, from the streets filled with (maize and) blue on those glorious football Saturdays when the sun shines bright, to the blue signs that direct us around campus. It is heard in the shouts of “Go…Blue!” Blue surrounds us, and it defines us.
Sure, there are a lot of colors out there. Crayola has managed to come up with some pretty clever names—Purple Mountain Majesty, anyone?—but I don’t need anything fancy. Go blue.
Blue has been my favorite color since I snapped out of the pink and purple phase that consumed much of my early childhood—I blame Barbie for that. My room went from pink with teddy bears to a bright aqua blue with butterflies (embarrassing) and my walls have housed some shade of blue ever since. As I got older, I found that I was gravitating towards this color that I now yell after the word “go” at football games.
Something about the color blue speaks to me. It can be a bright blue, reminding me of that perfect ocean shade you can only seem to find in the Caribbean. It can also be a rich, deep blue that calms you and grabs you at the same time, commanding your attention. It’s almost bright, even though it’s dark.
Blue is so much more than a color, though. As a life-long Michigan fan and U of M student, it has become a pride thing. Blue is our color. It shows up everywhere, from the streets filled with (maize and) blue on those glorious football Saturdays when the sun shines bright, to the blue signs that direct us around campus. It is heard in the shouts of “Go…Blue!” Blue surrounds us, and it defines us.
Sure, there are a lot of colors out there. Crayola has managed to come up with some pretty clever names—Purple Mountain Majesty, anyone?—but I don’t need anything fancy. Go blue.