WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.855 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.855 --> 00:00:02.480 align:middle line:84% You know, I actually didn't read poetry 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.790 align:middle line:84% until I became a student at Arizona State University. 00:00:05.790 --> 00:00:07.920 align:middle line:84% And one of my professors, Dr. Aldama, 00:00:07.920 --> 00:00:09.540 align:middle line:84% he encouraged me to write poetry. 00:00:09.540 --> 00:00:12.165 align:middle line:84% And I started writing poetry in his class, a Chicano literature 00:00:12.165 --> 00:00:12.690 align:middle line:90% course. 00:00:12.690 --> 00:00:16.320 align:middle line:84% He is the first person who saw something, inspired me, 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:21.290 align:middle line:84% and made me keep writing and reading. 00:00:21.290 --> 00:00:22.530 align:middle line:90% I came to it backwards. 00:00:22.530 --> 00:00:24.270 align:middle line:84% I started writing then I started reading. 00:00:24.270 --> 00:00:26.370 align:middle line:84% But once I started reading, I became obsessed. 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:28.170 align:middle line:90% And I read everything I could. 00:00:28.170 --> 00:00:30.660 align:middle line:84% But it's Dr. Aldama, who used to work at Arizona State 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:32.640 align:middle line:84% University, who works in Colorado 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.040 align:middle line:84% now, University of Colorado-Boulder. 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:37.950 align:middle line:84% He's the man, my teacher, who inspired me. 00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:41.880 align:middle line:84% I mean I remember helping him organize files in his office 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.760 align:middle line:84% about two years after I started writing at Arizona State. 00:00:44.760 --> 00:00:47.370 align:middle line:84% And I noticed in the back of his a drawer 00:00:47.370 --> 00:00:50.670 align:middle line:84% there was a file titled Eduardo C. Corral poems. 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:53.600 align:middle line:84% He was saving all my drafts and work. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:57.430 align:middle line:84% And that really in fact, I was really moved by that. 00:00:57.430 --> 00:00:59.240 align:middle line:90% So, Dr. Aldama. 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.820 align:middle line:90% 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:04.010 align:middle line:84% I think something that should inspire all of you 00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:07.760 align:middle line:84% guys is just being able to tell your own story. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:09.290 align:middle line:84% You know, like you get to a point 00:01:09.290 --> 00:01:11.090 align:middle line:84% where you're tired of other people telling 00:01:11.090 --> 00:01:12.350 align:middle line:90% your stories for you. 00:01:12.350 --> 00:01:15.860 align:middle line:84% So they think OK, House on Mango Street was already written. 00:01:15.860 --> 00:01:18.860 align:middle line:84% We don't need to hear anymore about people who look like that 00:01:18.860 --> 00:01:20.630 align:middle line:90% or live in places like that. 00:01:20.630 --> 00:01:22.730 align:middle line:84% Or they think Sherman Alexie wrote 00:01:22.730 --> 00:01:24.650 align:middle line:84% a good book of short stories so we don't ever 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:28.070 align:middle line:84% need to hear about any other Native Americans. 00:01:28.070 --> 00:01:30.260 align:middle line:84% So, we all have these unique stories. 00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:31.730 align:middle line:84% And they're the stories we've heard 00:01:31.730 --> 00:01:34.010 align:middle line:84% from our parents or our grandparents. 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:36.825 align:middle line:84% They're the stories you've heard at night that you scare 00:01:36.825 --> 00:01:39.200 align:middle line:84% each other with, whether it's the boogeyman or the hoofer 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:40.520 align:middle line:90% man or La Llorona. 00:01:40.520 --> 00:01:41.420 align:middle line:90% It can be anything. 00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:42.260 align:middle line:90% Cucuy. 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:42.860 align:middle line:90% Cucuy. 00:01:42.860 --> 00:01:44.480 align:middle line:90% Oh, Cucuy. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.235 align:middle line:84% But, you know, so you all have a story to tell. 00:01:47.235 --> 00:01:48.860 align:middle line:84% And if you don't tell it, somebody else 00:01:48.860 --> 00:01:50.292 align:middle line:90% is going to tell your story. 00:01:50.292 --> 00:01:52.250 align:middle line:84% And they're going to describe you and your life 00:01:52.250 --> 00:01:54.830 align:middle line:84% and they're going to say their life means this. 00:01:54.830 --> 00:01:56.660 align:middle line:84% And so I think it's important for you guys 00:01:56.660 --> 00:01:58.100 align:middle line:84% to realize that you have something 00:01:58.100 --> 00:01:59.240 align:middle line:90% really important to say. 00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:01.610 align:middle line:84% And you have a story that nobody else can tell, 00:02:01.610 --> 00:02:04.070 align:middle line:84% nobody else can tell it in the way you've told it. 00:02:04.070 --> 00:02:06.980 align:middle line:84% And it starts like Eduardo said, with simple things. 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:08.600 align:middle line:90% The words you use at home. 00:02:08.600 --> 00:02:11.150 align:middle line:90% The objects in your living room. 00:02:11.150 --> 00:02:12.680 align:middle line:90% The things that comfort you. 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:14.810 align:middle line:90% The way your family cooks. 00:02:14.810 --> 00:02:17.660 align:middle line:84% The things you smell and see and look 00:02:17.660 --> 00:02:20.060 align:middle line:84% at every morning when you wake up or every evening. 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:21.993 align:middle line:84% Those are all-- that's who you guys are. 00:02:21.993 --> 00:02:24.410 align:middle line:84% And I think that should be really important when you think 00:02:24.410 --> 00:02:26.775 align:middle line:90% about why you should write. 00:02:26.775 --> 00:02:28.400 align:middle line:84% Like I said before while I was reading, 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:30.950 align:middle line:84% you all have access like specialized diction 00:02:30.950 --> 00:02:32.210 align:middle line:90% and vocabularies and language. 00:02:32.210 --> 00:02:33.080 align:middle line:90% It's all around you. 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:35.570 align:middle line:90% You all have it already. 00:02:35.570 --> 00:02:38.510 align:middle line:84% And even the way you play with language nowadays, 00:02:38.510 --> 00:02:40.640 align:middle line:84% text messaging, instant messaging, 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:42.680 align:middle line:84% that's a way to play with language, 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.410 align:middle line:84% dwell with language too, if you think about it. 00:02:45.410 --> 00:02:46.790 align:middle line:90% You're doing it all the time. 00:02:46.790 --> 00:02:49.195 align:middle line:84% Yeah, there's a book of Twitter poems that just came out. 00:02:49.195 --> 00:02:50.570 align:middle line:84% You know, and it's kind of funny. 00:02:50.570 --> 00:02:53.240 align:middle line:84% You know like there's stuff about Justin Bieber in there. 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:55.190 align:middle line:90% But you know, have fun with it. 00:02:55.190 --> 00:02:56.480 align:middle line:90% You had to mention the Bieber. 00:02:56.480 --> 00:02:57.810 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:02:57.810 --> 00:02:58.810 align:middle line:90% You like him, don't you? 00:02:58.810 --> 00:02:59.960 align:middle line:90% No I do not. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:01.820 align:middle line:90% My sister, my cousin does. 00:03:01.820 --> 00:03:04.880 align:middle line:84% In Japan, there's like a big genre of novels 00:03:04.880 --> 00:03:06.230 align:middle line:90% written on cell phones. 00:03:06.230 --> 00:03:08.180 align:middle line:84% And they're bestsellers in Japan like that. 00:03:08.180 --> 00:03:10.500 align:middle line:84% They have better cell phones than we do though. 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:11.000 align:middle line:90%