I'm a girl of many words, but when it comes to voicing my ideas, I tend to find myself in a rut. This has frustrated me since the beginning of time, but I have learned to work around it through writing.

When I was in third grade, I was still in collaborative classes, and my collaborative teacher came up to me on the last day of school. I'll never forget what she said to me (or at least the gist of it): "Don't ever stop writing. You have a talent for it." I didn't really think much of the words I put on the page, but hearing this from someone older than myself gave me a jolt of confidence that I certainly needed. I have always been an intellectual person with so much to say about certain things, but I psych myself out saying them out loud. Eventually, I took my teacher's advice and dove into the world of writing.

In middle school, I wrote a full-length story by myself, and then another one into high school with my best friend. Neither one were particularly Pulitzer Prize-worthy (trust me on that), but they were good enough for me to feel proud of myself for crafting something from my mind.

I'm definitely not always successful with writing. I suffer from the all-too-familiar plague of writer's block at least 50% of the time I devote to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I'm actually currently suffering from it, so this is proof of what can happen to even the best of the best. But every great writer has his or her setbacks, and it's these times of struggling to think of what to write where the best material can crop up. I am also admittedly not the best essayist as far as timed tests come. I am a very disorganized writer; I start from the middle, then go to the end, and then back to the beginning, and add things in between every so often. It goes without saying that this proves ineffective during a lengthy essay assignment where I have to write freehandedly. I am getting better at articulating my personal voice in my writing, which has always been a bit of a struggle for me.

Where I will go with my writing is still a question up for grabs. I'm considering looking for writing and editing internships for the summer of 2018. I might want to continue writing articles for a magazine, reviews of shows, or become a full-blown dramaturg for theatrical productions. At this point, I'm still trying to enhance my craft and better the way I say what I need to say. I have been writing articles for the Odyssey for a couple of months now, and I collaborated with my boyfriend on one of his blog articles (check it out at www.brightlightsofbroadway.com).

I hope to get more opportunities to write because it's my favorite hobby and one of the things I feel that I am very strong at. And for anyone out there who is thinking about writing, you should just write whatever you feel. It will eventually shape itself into a nice story.