Opposite the Editorial Page

In eighth grade I wrote my first Op-Ed and learned it did not stand for opinion editorial, but opposite the editorial page. I immediately liked writing them because it was a chance for me to rant about my opinion on a topic of my choice, kind of similar to this blog. Last night I wrote my first of five op-eds I have to write for my AP Language and Composition class, so naturally, when people asked me what I was doing last night I responded "writing my op-ed". What I learned from this, was that a bunch of my friends did not even know what an op-ed was. The piece is called opposite the editorial page because they are often written by guest writers, or someone unaffiliated with the editorial board. The op-ed I wrote last night was about Palestine and Israel and Obama's visit to Israel. Normally I have short pieces for AP Lang, because I was never big on excessively long pieces. It got late at night so I made the executive decision to print in the morning and when I did this morning I realized it was three pages, where as the last one I wrote was maybe one and a half. The reason for this is simple; it's easier to write about things you know and how you feel about an issue. Taking a stance isn't always easy but when an issue hits home, like Israel does for me, there is a lot to be said about the issue. That's another reason I started this blog. I really do enjoy writing and expressing my opinions, but I never knew what to write about. Writing journals like we have in school never really floated my boat. With the blog though, I can chose when to write, what to write, how long to write, and I can go back and edit it or add to it. I was also inspired by blogs I had been finding online and the one my cousin had been writing and I'm finding it surprisingly easy to find things to write about, even though I end up off topic pretty often. I think this is attributed to radio and all the solo shows when I had to talk to myself while entertaining the listeners. Back on the topic of op-eds though, look them up, read a few, and maybe try writing one, it's surprisingly rewarding being able to respond to, qualify, or defend an argument about a topic you like. If you need somewhere to start, check out this one, it happens to be the one I responded to for my assignment and I really enjoyed it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-what-really-happened-in-jerusalem/2013/03/28/5b018070-97d2-11e2-b68f-dc5c4b47e519_story.html