Throughout my life, I’ve had many experiences writing with different topics. Beginning at a young age, I was encouraged to keep a journal and express my thoughts through writing. As a student, I’ve had the opportunity to write academically and recreationally. These experiences have helped teach me to write in what capacity I can. I hope to better myself as a writer and apply the acquired skills to practical and professional uses.
When I was a child, I didn’t have many friends and I found my home life to be lacking. I looked to school for comfort. It was in school that I learned that I could relieve myself of worries and troubled thoughts by writing them in a journal. Here was somebody that I could talk to. There was no judgement from my journal. I hadn’t been taught HOW to write, but I was writing. This was writing in its rawest form, without rules or guidelines. This is when I began writing.
During my time in grammar school, I picked up some basic skills necessary for writing and tried applying them, but it didn’t come to me naturally. I struggled with sentence structure and literary devices. It didn’t stop me from writing when I was told to and even still, writing in my journal. There weren’t many writing assignments back then. When there were, they were fun. Assignments like: “Create Your Own Superhero and Tell His Story” really peaked my interest in writing. This is where I saw the fun in creative writing.
Until this point, I’d only ever written narratives and small journal entries. This was a whole new world to me full of adventure and possibility. I found it all very exciting and I spent time attempting to write my own short stories. It wasn’t much of a hobby, but it was both an outlet and an escape. I don’t remember what happened to those stories. I stopped writing recreationally for several years and focused on my academics. It wasn’t until I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons that I once again began to write purely for my own pleasure.
In my freshman year of high school, I was introduced to the game “Dungeons and Dragons” by a new friend of mine. I wasn’t sure what it was and when I asked my mother, she went off the rails and nearly burned me at the stake. I ended up researching this negative connotation later, but in the meantime, I wanted to see this with my own eyes. I began playing with this friend and quickly realized how much fun it was. I was amazed to find out that he’d written all of the adventure himself. This gave me a fresh start in writing recreationally and it has ever since.
In the world of academics, I’ve had to write about all number of subjects and have had to do just as much independent research to support these writings. I didn’t find it nearly as enjoyable as the recreational writing, but it was necessary. I wrote about anything that was assigned to me, but I specifically enjoyed the science-based topics. I had to do a lot of research for chemistry, biology, and biotechnology. This is where writing and my own academic interests collide as I saw that I could use writing in my professional field and in medical science.
From where I am now, looking ahead, I hope to improve my writing skills and think of myself as an “above-average” writer. I want to do well enough that I won’t have to worry about a clash between writing and scientific study. I want to learn to use writing in the professional world and let it be a benefit instead of a damper. The possibilities are endless. I only have to apply myself and learn. This is who I am as a writer, but not yet who I want to be.
