I never was a "good" writer to begin with. I used to feel like writing was never something I'd ever be passionate about because I thought that it wasn't necessary for me to become a doctor. I wrote out of necessity for my classes, to get that one assignment that would take me multiple days out of my way. Well, that's how it was until my junior year of high school.

I previously mentioned how I took too many AP classes for one year which severely impacted my performance in a negative way. AP Psychology, for instance, was the bane of my existence during high school. I simply could not keep up with this fast of a pace, which made me cast doubt on my own abilities. Precalculus was also a very hard subject for me to understand, and my low grades on exams made me feel like I would never be good at math. All these negative thoughts kept boring into me for the past few years, making me feel inadequate and inferior. That year was particularly tough on me, both academically and emotionally, and my self-esteem was at an all-time low. I needed something to help me come out of that downward spiral of negativity, which is where writing came in.

My junior year AP English teacher guided us through readings of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," including his "Song of Myself," and I owe my inspiration to write from both of them. She asked us to write out our own song of ourselves, which could be about anything. After writing my first poem, I realized that I could release myself from my own struggles and negativity by not just transcribing my feelings onto paper but also concentrating on the moments of joy and happiness I did experience.

Ultimately, it was my poems that helped me survive junior year by being an outlet for me to constantly vent out my bottled-up feelings onto paper. I began writing not out of necessity, but out of happiness and passion. I became so prolific that I produced over 20 short poems in a few months. I started coming out of poetry and started writing short stories. I wanted to polish my own writing so that I could write an amazing essay for my Common Application. I wanted to do better in my senior year English class by writing higher quality essays.

But I also wanted to write more because I wanted to write a book, an autobiography of my life and how I saw and was influenced by the world around me. I'm by no means the best writer, but that doesn't mean I can't try. I joined Odyssey in May of 2018 because I wanted to write more and share my ideas with the world. I wanted to make my first mark on the world and show the world just who I am. I want to encourage more people like me to write about their feelings and express themselves more, not just as a tool to get essays done but as a method of understanding the world.