For as long as I can remember, I've had a love for art. When I was a child I loved to color, I remember outlining the pictures really dark with the crayon first, then coloring the rest later. I also remember that I'd spend hours coloring pictures with my mom, it was my favorite thing to do with her. When I got a little older, I began to draw. Just small doodles at first, but then I really got into sketching and drawing anything and everything I could. I moved from that to painting, as long as you can call randomly splashing paint on a piece of paper painting.

It was a long time before I discovered the art of writing, but once I did things changed. At first, it was just something I had to do for English class, always about getting a grade, but I started writing for myself and not an assignment I saw it from a different perspective. Writing helped me navigate through some difficult times in my life. Anytime I was feeling low I could communicate my emotions and thoughts without worrying anyone else. I'd lost my motivation and love for the other forms of art that I'd once utilized. Writing became a safe haven; somewhere I could go where there were no expectations from anyone but myself. It provided something I'd needed desperately at the time; an outlet

Around the same time, I started taking journalism courses which developed my love of writing further. At the time I had no real knowledge about what journalists did; the more I learned the more I loved it. I recall when we wrote our first practice articles for the class, I never thought I'd be any good at news writing or that I'd enjoy it as much as I did. Then we got our papers back. I remember feeling ecstatic when my teacher told me my article was well-written considering I'd had no practice with this type of writing, and that inspired me to continue with journalism; to continue writing.

I spent my entire high school career working for the school yearbook, writing and editing stories. My senior year I even began to report on the school broadcast, it wasn't huge but it was fun. That brings me here, to Marshall University where I'm pursuing a degree and eventually a career as a journalist. I report for the school paper, and now I write for The Odyssey. It's a lot of work, to balance all the writing and the other coursework I have to do but writing, doing what I love makes it bearable. Nothing that you want will ever be easy, but it will definitely be worth the time and effort if it's something you truly love. So don't let a workload or one setback end your passion for something whether it's writing, or math, or forensic science, eventually it will all pay off, and you'll be glad you did it.