Workshop Winning?

My first real experience with workshops was traumatizing to say the least. It was my first semester at Florida State University and my anxiety was already at an all time high as I entered my Poetic Technique class. Unaware of what was in store for me I was faced with a pow-wow style class room and immediently thrown to the wolves as my (terrible) writing was shared with the class. The workshops that took place in this 'circle of trust' were painful and of little help to my 'poetic future'. Just when I thought I had finally written a decent poem the class would rip it to shreds and instead of offering helpful feedback I would be lectured by fellow class mates. I had thought that by the end of the class maybe the workshops would have helped me understand what readers might have to say about my work and perhaps I would discover new ways in which I could structure my writing or how I could gear it towards certain audiences but in the end all I had gained was the realization that poetry was not for me. I do believe that workshops can be extremely beneficial when given enough time and respect. It can make all the difference in one's writing to hear the opinions and feedback from readers before submitting a final draft. Often times simple details can be overlooked by the writer which might be critical to the reader, workshops are a great time for questions to be asked.  I also believe that the professor's role is crutial, instead of lecturing a student about his/her work, offering simple suggestions can be a great help whether it be a grammatical error or an undeveloped thought, pushing the student to dig deeper or pay closer attention to detail can be extremely beneficial.