Elizabethtown College Lecturer of English Erica Dolson recently published the essay, “For My Students, When You’re Stressed and Anxious,” in the academic journal, Writing on the Edge (WOE).
WOE is an interdisciplinary journal that focuses on writing and the teaching of writing, and is run by the University of California, Davis.
Dolson originally wrote the piece while completing an online writing course in “Narrative Medicine” in preparation for teaching her interdisciplinary course at Etown, “Disease and Disability: The Science and the Stories.” Her essay is written as a list for both students and teachers, reflecting on the complexities of mental health.
The work first begins as advice on mental health, directed toward Dolson’s students and eventually transitions into a personal reflection on mental health, speaking to college students and teachers alike.
“This piece is a personal essay and seeing it in print has been both humbling and scary,” Dolson said. “I’m consistently impressed and inspired by the honesty and vulnerability my students bring to their creative writing, and I followed their example in writing this essay.”
The essay is available in the Fall 2020-Spring 2021 print issue of WOE.