Dorsa Jahanbakhsh

As an only child, growing up in Tehran, I often was called the artsy girl in the Jahanbakhsh family. From the moment, I could pick up a pen, I began writing poetry about love and painting pictures of our scenery from our fifth floor balcony. In Iran, all my teachers were sure I’d become a poet or an artist of some sort. Nonetheless, at the age of eight, reality hit. My dad decided we were moving to America. And I was soon to become lost trying to fit in to two different worlds. And along the way, I forgot the language that taught me poetry. On top of that, I experienced one setback after another. I neglected the one thing I knew how to do best: writing. It was not until my sophomore year in high school, when my English teacher exposed my forgotten talent to myself. From then, I realized one thing; that is, writing sets me free. It gives me the strength to break off any chain holding me down. And ultimately, writing allows me to relate to and help other people with problems like my own. In my imagination, is where I am often lost. But in writing, is where I find myself. And ultimately, it is where I find meaning to life.