Creating a Personal Language

It seems that as we travel through these years in the educational system, both reading and writing progress in order to prepare us for the next step in the ultimate plan of what lies ahead. Often times, we are taught specific lessons that are said to be “right,” and it is then our responsibility to accept this truth and apply to our literacy careers. These uses of language are generally taught in order to create a standard, so as to create a learning community in which everyone is able to participate on the same level. Teachers make sure to teach language through a means which is conducive to this kind of learning, whether or not it serves to be helpful as our journeys through the educational system progress.
In primary and secondary schooling, teachers often have students get into groups to work on assignments. At least, I remember this was my experience during these years of my life. We would get into a group and be given a task which generally included some sort of reading, writing, and speaking. We would read a text, that was assuredly considered a part of the canon, in order that it show us the use of language in the most traditional of our texts. From here, we would discuss, using our own language, what it is that we perceived when reading the language of the text. Following this, we would combine these reading and speaking skills into writing a summary or response of what had just occurred within our group.
This was all good and great until I got older and realized that every teacher asks something different of their students. There was no right and wrong. It came down to what the teacher wanted to see and how we would apply this to our work in order to get high markings in the class. In the end, it really came down to use realizing that we just had to appease the system. That sounded easy enough, and for the most part it was. But then things became a bit confusing. Which teacher liked commas and which took five points off for every comma you used? Which teacher wanted you to use the jargon of your subject in order to convey your message better and which was only interested in seeing Standard American English? It was up to us to make these distinctions and try to figure out how to run with them in order to receive the grades we were hoping for.
While at the time this all seemed so difficult to keep track of, as a college student, I am now thankful for all the different perspectives I received when learning to read and write. As a student, it became my responsibility to apply all the techniques I had learned throughout my education at that point and create a style of my own. And now that I sit back and look at it, I do not believe there is a right or a wrong when it comes to language and its usage. There may be what is “standard” and what is “accepted,” but these are only meant to be used as guideposts. It is up to us to adapt and create our own personal meaning out of what has been given to us. In this, it is obvious that all the rules and regulations laid out at the beginning were useful in that they gave us the roots for which to allow our personal style to grow. Now, in college, it seems that we are able to apply a style of writing that we see fit in order to convey our message in the way that we, as authors, deem most appropriate.
Primary and secondary school throw as many ideas at you as they possibly can, and for this reason, often consist in throwing you off. But had I never been exposed to all of these concepts, I would have never known how to create a language and style of my own. It is my belief that personal style is the true essence of language. People fall into different categories and cross over varying dichotomies. But at the end of the day, language is how each individual makes use of what they have been given, and from there, turns basic writing into a work of art by creating rules and regulations of their very own.