As much as I was hesitant to share my essay with anyone outside of...this class, I found the results to be positive enough to make the experience worth it--even if the results were limited.
I first shared it with the actual Elder Clark from the story (who's name was changed). He said he appreciated me sharing it with him and he thought it was a good essay, but he asked that I not post it on Facebook publicly or share it with anyone who doesn't already know the story. I told him the whole class had already read it and he was fine with that but he was afraid others might connect the dots and find out who it was. There's members of his own family that don't know anything about it
Heeding that advice, I shared it only with people who knew about the experience, which ended up being narrowed down to my family and the mission president from the story. I send it to my parents who sent me an email back telling me they liked it and wondered why I hadn't told them more about it sooner. They didn't realize how dragged down I was during the experience, which made me a little sad knowing that I had a period of great stress but I never bothered to tell anyone about it.
I also sent it to my old mission president yesterday but haven't heard back yet.
So it wasn't the most fruitful sharing experience but I think it made a difference with those that count.
I first shared it with the actual Elder Clark from the story (who's name was changed). He said he appreciated me sharing it with him and he thought it was a good essay, but he asked that I not post it on Facebook publicly or share it with anyone who doesn't already know the story. I told him the whole class had already read it and he was fine with that but he was afraid others might connect the dots and find out who it was. There's members of his own family that don't know anything about it
Heeding that advice, I shared it only with people who knew about the experience, which ended up being narrowed down to my family and the mission president from the story. I send it to my parents who sent me an email back telling me they liked it and wondered why I hadn't told them more about it sooner. They didn't realize how dragged down I was during the experience, which made me a little sad knowing that I had a period of great stress but I never bothered to tell anyone about it.
I also sent it to my old mission president yesterday but haven't heard back yet.
So it wasn't the most fruitful sharing experience but I think it made a difference with those that count.
Even though you weren't able to share it with a lot of people I'm sure it was still meaningful to those who did read. Who knows, maybe you and Elder Clark are the individuals who will learn most from your essay.
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