Nyctophobia and Counting - A Collection of Autobiographical Essays

Abstract

My journey to creating Nyctophobia and Counting began in Honors 495, taught by a wonderfully exuberant man, Vincent Pollard, who became intensely involved in each student's project. Even when the course was finished, Pollard would email my classmates and me the call number of books at Hamilton Library that dealt with our individual projects. Throughout Honors 495, I pursued a creative project that involved satirizing the insatiable and materialistic needs of Americans. I loved the idea! I drew up thesis maps, outlines, timelines, and even a twenty-five­ page proposal that consisted mostly of drawings. Bright, bold crayon drawings. But I didn't followthroughwiththatbrilliantproposal. Summer arrived and my idea from 495 did not fly off the paper as expected. The flaw: too much planning and too little execution. So, I came up with another great idea. I would delve into a creative nonfiction project.