Instead of being influenced by a book to start writing, my inspiration actually came from internet shows. These internet shows also helped me decide what I wanted to do with my life.

Before the start of my freshman year of high school, I began to discover online video game shows such as GameSpot and IGN, which showcase the latest game reviews, trailers, and walkthroughs. Being the video game enthusiast that I am, I discovered what I wanted to do for the rest of my life: be a video game journalist. I knew that to make this dream happen I needed to improve on my writing drastically. The reason why I say drastically is that my writing wasn't great. I still wrote like I was in middle school. My writing back then was just bland, uninteresting, and overall just a cluttered mess. There was no organization to it whatsoever, and that needed to change.

I also had to conquer my introversion. You could say I had a fear of social interaction when I was growing up. I always found myself clinging to my twin brother's side 24/7. If I was with him, I wouldn't have to talk to anybody else. I can remember how terrible the moments we weren't together were. While my peers were all playing with each other, joking around, and having fun, I was in the shadows just waiting to be reconnected with my brother again. When we both reached high school, we managed to get a small group of friends of about four people which we labeled "Squad."

However, I was still an introvert. It was still hard for me to meet and talk to new people. While I was dealing with that, my parents were always on my back to get involved and do extracurriculars in school if I ever wanted to make it into college, since that's one of the crucial points they look for. I have to thank them for that though. With their constant support, I started to see myself become more and more involved in school.

Throughout high school, I took various classes such as debate and journalism and joined clubs such as newspaper and TV broadcasting to improve my writing and hoped that these would help me break out of my shell. I decided to create a channel called VarnyVarn Harris. On this channel, I did my own walkthroughs, funny montages, and tips and tricks for various video games. I also wrote my own scripts to practice my writing. I even joined my first freelance journalism website called The Loot Gaming. Joining this website and conversing with my fellow colleagues was extremely beneficial. To learn to collaborate and learn with other writers was such a great opportunity.

Ever since the seventh grade, I have been attending various technical camps and classes at Hyland Software, where I learned various coding languages, which in technological terms is another form of writing. I still had trouble with being sociable though. I knew that somewhere down the line I needed to shake off this problem if I wanted to be a successful journalist. I couldn't do simple tasks such as networking.

As cliche as this is about to sound, just remember this is the 100 percent truth.

When I was 16 years old, I worked at Bob Evans as a host. Keeping in mind how much I kept to myself, I usually just did my job and did less socializing with my co-workers, especially considering they were full-grown men and women while I was just a junior in high school. One day when I walked into work, I saw a new employee, a pretty girl who looked to be about my age. Being the introvert that I was, I said a simple hi and the basic conversation starters like where she's from why did she decide to work here and went about my business. I remember her coming back to keep talking me, which was a change of pace for me. Before I clocked out that day, I remember asking the girl her name. It was Shaela, and I have her to thank for helping me be more outgoing and sociable.

After weeks and months of hanging out. Shaela helped me be so much more sociable and outgoing. I could now have no trouble talking to anybody and meeting new people. After I asked her out (shoutout to my dad for dating tips), I realized I was fully out of the shadows and ready to take on the world. Looking back, I can see how much my writing and social skills improved, and I hope they continue to progress as time goes on.