CREATIVE WRITING CONTROVERSY

by Ciara Lonergan

On July 28, a groundbreaking story emerged on the Journalism and Publishing class’s very own Master Teacher Mr. Tressel. At PCC summer 2010, he had Ms. Goldman, who is currently a proctor,  as a student in his creative writing class. Little did he know his feud with her would continue to this very day.

When Ms. Goldman was a student in Creative Writing, she had a blossoming passion for writing. Even when she left during week four for a family trip to St. Maarten, Ms. Goldman paid extra for wifi to send her work to Mr. Tressel. Also, while she was at PCC, her grandmother passed away and Mr. Tressel was a great comfort to her. To top it off, on the first day of Creative Writing you write a letter to Mr. Tressel about what he should know about you. Then, on the last day, you tell him about who you are now. When Ms. Goldman wrote her final letter, she poured her heart and soul into it. However, Mr. Tressel did not pick up on it.

On the day of the award ceremony, Ms. Goldman thought she had it in the bag. As Mr. Tressel was giving his speech on why he thought this student deserves the award, Ms. Goldman was getting more and more excited. But when another student’s name was called as the recipient, whose name shall not be named, Ms. Goldman could feel her heart shatter into a million pieces. After all her hard work and dedication, she had not won her rightful prize. When after the ceremony she retreated to her room, where who was celebrating? Her roommate’s best friend; the winner of the Creative Writing award. It was a rough day for Ms.Goldman.

Fast forward a few years to when Ms. Goldman was a proctor in 2014 and interning in Mr. Tressel’s Creative Writing class. One day, she blurted out her tear-wrenching story and received some intriguing news. Mr. Tressel, having not seen anyone who stood out more to him, had given the proctors a list of three names and asked them to choose. Get this: she wasn’t even on the list! Seeing how upset Ms. Goldman was over the award, he gave a new award, the Goldman Award, to the student who showed the most dedication to the class. The first recipient’s name, Erin LaMarca, became a part of the award and it became the Goldman-LaMarca award.

“It’s not really a feud,” says Mr. Tressel. “I think highly of all my creative writing students and wish them the best in life. It’s all in her head.”

The Tressel-Goldman Feud is still relevant today, despite going on for so many years. We cannot hope for it to be over anytime soon as Ms. Goldman will forever have the painful memory in the back of her mind. What started out as a PCC student’s craving for recognition became a full blown controversy. Stay tuned for more details on the Young Voices website.