Hello! My name is Jessica Jenkins but you can just call my Jessie. I've never written an article for a group before so I thought the best place to start was to write one about myself! That way, I can hopefully better connect with my readers as I write more. A little background - I lived in New York before I moved to North Carolina. As of this year, I have been in North Carolina for 13 years. I grew up in Raleigh and that is where I currently live still. I move to Greensboro for college because I stay on campus.

Let's talk about my passions. I started playing instruments in the 6th grade and I have continued playing them to this day. All throughout high school, I was involved in various different music playing groups. I participated in the marching band, concert band, pep bands, and high honors level bands. I was so into music that I almost started my path in college as a music major with a concentration in education to become a band director. What changed that choice was my passion for writing poetry. I took a creative writing class in my junior year and I had an amazing teacher. He inspired me to pursue my passion for English as a whole and teach it. Come April of my senior year, I had been accepted into the Wake County Future Teacher's Program. It is a huge blessing to be able to follow my dreams and have a whole group of people supporting me.

Next up are my hobbies. I absolutely love to go biking. I live right by a greenway trail and every couple of days, I would go out and bike at least 4 miles. Most days it was 9 miles or more. Biking was a huge coping mechanism for me. I would listen to music and it would help alleviate stress. It also doubled as a way for me to stay fit and get exercise. Another one of my hobbies is playing video games. I'm extremely basic and I really only play Minecraft and Valorant. I have made many online friends while playing these games and it makes gameplay much more fun. One last hobby that I have, I mentioned earlier, is writing poetry. Being able to freely express anything that I feel through the form of poetry helps me so much. Whether it is writing out my feelings or writing about what I observe in nature around me, it's just such a beautiful way to express my views. My love for writing is actually what inspired me to join The Odyssey!

I hope this article helped you learn a little more about me. Don't hesitate to reach out to me, my Instagram is on my profile. I love making new friends and meeting new people! See you all next week.