The Inside Story

I used to see writing as a way to escape the mundane world I felt trapped in, but the joy I found within the words was stripped away during my high school years. Composing paper after paper with the same guidelines and restrictions, what started out as a fun school assignment turned into something I always dreaded.

The transition into college felt like entering a whole new world. Yes, there were still papers to write and rubrics to stick to, but each essay I wrote was not rigid or stiff. With the help of my professors, who told me that each essay should have its own voice, I was able to move my words across the pages, allowing different ideas to collide with each other. It took me a few tries and a few failed papers, but with the proper help, I got a passing grade, and started to get the hang of college writing. Being a writing major and realizing I have creative freedom helped my words glide across the screen as I typed each assignment. 

Now I am in my senior year, and with a full heart, I know I have chosen the right major. Through reading a variety of genres, writing a few-too-many papers, and with the encouragement I have received from my peers and staff, I have thrived in a place I thought wasn’t right for me. I’ve been able to escape again into a story I created, a voice that was my own. Being able to hear that voice, a positive voice I hadn’t heard in a while, showed me that it's okay for my writing to be different from others. It’s okay to break the boundaries and explore beyond the syllabus and rubric. Writing in college has allowed me to open up my creative side, and to vent feelings that are too hard to say aloud. I have fallen in love with writing all over again.

I am starting to write the story I want to follow, a story that I’m proud of. I won’t lie, this story has changed in total four times over the past two years. It's full of winding turns and broken bridges that I have to cross, but I know, in the end, my story will be something I want to share.

There is a story in each of us, and I think it’s time to start writing those stories, to explore the possibilities that we are too scared to face, and to realize just how powerful writing is and can be.