When I say I like to write, I get weird looks, laughs, scoffs, any combination of the aforementioned. I think people misunderstand me when I say that. When I say I like to write, I think a lot of people imagine me writing 10-page research papers and getting joy out of it, and that couldn't be further from the truth. I hate academic writing. Academic writing is boring, claustrophobic, annoyingly structured, and allows for about 0.9% of freedom, plus I really really hate MLA format and in text citations. When I say I like to write, I like to write about feelings and people and stories. I like writing poems and short stories and letters I will never send. But why? Why do I have the burning desire to put pen to paper and string random words together? I'll tell you why.

We all have our untold stories, our secrets, the things we are too afraid to say. For the most part, I am not afraid to say anything. I will stand up for what I believe, I will let most of my feelings be known. I write the things I do in order for people to have something to connect to. I write in order to be a voice for those who do not have the capabilities to let their voice be heard. I love to write, because the world needs more people who want to write. We deserve to hear every side of the story, we deserve to know all the facts, we deserve to all have something to connect to in this world.

I write to cope. It's easy to think something, it's harder to say it out loud, and it is even harder to immortalize it in writing, but that's just how I deal with things. Bad day? Write. Bad experience? Write. Madly in love with someone? Write. Angry? Write. Whatever happens, I know I can turn to writing. Even things I don't let anyone see are still important, although I rarely write something without showing at least one person. I don't write because I need someone to listen to me, I write because to me, writing something down is what makes it real.

Many people tell me I picked the wrong major, and that I should major in journalism or English, but I think that I love writing too much for it to be my job for the rest of my life. I don't do well reporting on current events, I write about feelings. I write about what it is like to miss someone so terribly that you can't move or what it feels like to be so happy that you wonder how you were ever sad. I am not objective enough for professional journalism, my opinion is everything to me and it's very hard for me to write from two different sides. I don't write to give people facts, I write to give people hope, comfort, and advice. I write to let people know that they are not alone and they are understood.

Writing is my outlet, my coping mechanism, my way to reach out to people. I write to take a stand. I may never write professionally or maybe one day I'll publish a book, who knows, but I do know that I will never stop writing. So to all you writers out there who are stuck or feel silenced or who just don't think they're good enough, never give up. Remember why you write.