I intern with a high school class every Friday and, let me tell you, high schoolers are some of the funniest, most profound beings I have ever met.

For example, I was speaking with a student and he stated an incredibly insightful, beautiful analysis of a reading. Then, in the next breath, he asked me if I had heard the latest Migos album.

It’ll keep you on your toes.

So, needless to say, I was blown away when another student made quite the intelligent proposal: “Authors make us feel and form personal relationships with what they write.”

I wanted to give her a gold star. It was a thought that I pondered the rest of the day; I have to admit, I’m still thinking on it.

Do you ever do something for a long time and forget why you really fell in love with it in the first place? That’s how I have felt lately with writing.

I love to write, but when the due dates hit and you have to turn in multiple papers a week, the joy and shine of writing can fade.

For the longest time, I saw writing as a means to an end. After all, a good paper (most of the time) means a good grade. A good grade means a good GPA. And a good GPA means that I get to graduate college and go conquer the world.

However, writing papers for the sole purpose of getting a good grade is a lot like working a job for the sole reason of getting a paycheck. It doesn’t fulfill you and it sure isn’t satisfying. Honestly, it is a bit of a letdown.

It took a long time for me to write from a personal standpoint. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Odyssey Online, and that was the first time I ever wrote just for the heck of it.

When I began writing a bit for Odyssey, I figured out that I have a passion for writing.

For one, it forces me to think. Sure, I have to consider grammar and vocabulary, but at this point, much of that is automatic. I could correctly place a comma in my sleep. It extends far beyond that, though. For just about every article that I write, I will type something up then proceed to tilt my head a couple of degrees and reconsider what I just wrote.

Writing is about understanding and seeing that life, in general, is not black and white or clear cut.

It is about understanding why and how, questioning what you see and what you think. It makes you stop, consider, and question yourself again.

More importantly, however, I think that I love writing so much because it connects people.

We have so many feelings and thoughts, many of which are not necessarily things that we would say out loud. However, a common denominator among these things is the fact that, even if we don’t know it, we feel in the same way.

Movies, books, plays, and songs- they all make us feel. That, in and of itself, is why I love writing. Writing conveys things that may get lost in translation when spoken. And, even when written words are expressed verbally, they have an amazingly powerful impact on us.

I enjoy seeing the commonalities among all of us. I believe that all of us are connected, and at the end of the day, I think that those commonalities aren’t allowed to shine through because speaking gets messy. In order to express those thoughts and feelings, it takes concentration and intention. Put those two together and add a pen, and I think that we would see that we have a lot more in common that we originally think.

Nothing connects humanity more than our ability to feel. And the ability to express those feelings? Well, that comes in a close second. For that reason, I write.