If someone close to me asked me why I enjoy writing, the answer would be simple. The art of writing frees the mind, allowing infinite possibilities. For me, this is my stress relief. I have never been the loud kid in class, I was the type of student who focused more my thoughts, sometimes allowing myself to daydream until called on by the teacher. Growing up within a verbally expressive family, I was the least talkative. If someone argued with me, I would never take the time to state my case. My thoughts lie in my writing. Whenever an opportunity to write would arise, I would have the ability to express my feelings without the tough task of speaking to others.

Realizing my interest in allowing my mind to flow, I signed up for a Creative Writing class sophomore year, an opportunity for my thoughts to roam free. Through every prompt, short story, and poem, I felt more freedom to express myself through these pieces of literature.

The most bittersweet part of the class was the peer-editing; it provided the opportunity for others to see my work, yet it also stung when someone corrected or tried to change a part of the story. Great writers hate having their work commented negatively upon, however it is only through the help of other minds that one can improve their own. The interesting part about the peer-editing session was that reading each piece of work was refreshing, whereas beforehand I could not stand to read at all. Our teacher also would assign a book to read over each month, and as time went on I found myself more enticed in the books I had chosen to read.

By the end of the creative writing class, I felt much stronger as a writer and was proud of myself for exploring the more imaginative side of writing. The next year I went for a new type of writing, journalism. At this point I still remained the reserved individual I was; still not fond of starting conversation. As soon as the journalism course began my junior year, I realized that this type of writing can require extensive reaching-out and questioning. The job requires a great amount of skill in speaking to others, a skill I just did not have. This is when I surprised myself.

After weeks of working on stories for my local paper, The Nashua Telegraph, my first article was published in the paper. I remember the feeling of triumph, because not only had I registered my writing for everyone in my community to see, I was also breaking out of my shell and becoming more social, making new friends. Journalism taught me that you can and should use writing to express yourself, but also that we were given a voice for a reason. Today I am not only more confident in my writing ability, I am also much more confident in social situations such as my job, which is heavy in the department of helping customers.

My favorite part about writing is that there is no limit to what you can become. You can write scripts for movies and plays, fictional stories straight from your imagination, real stories that you went out and gathered, sports games, and reviews. You can write about your stance on the election for example, or even about the way you like your coffee made. There is no limit to what you can create and accomplish when you write, and that is why I cannot express how thankful I am for the art. Writing has overall changed how I see others and has increased my confidence in myself.

My story has only just begun. Though I am still a novice writer, I will continue to explore the endless possibilities and topics for my work.