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Compared to most people in this competition, I have had very little life experience. I am a teenager, not yet halfway through my high school career. I have only been outside my home state once and that was when I was much too young to remember it. I have lived a very sheltered Christian life. Most of my time I spend holed up in my room, reading novels, surfing the Web, and contemplating the sad state of the world today.
There is not much I can tell you about my past, because to be honest it is a lot like my present. Sure, I am a little older, a little wiser, but I am still just a girl. I am a girl who is trying to find her place in this world, and a girl who finds it increasingly difficult to do so. I read to escape to a different world -- just as I did at eight or nine, when I read the Harry Potter books for the first time. I write to express myself, to show the parts of myself that I often do not let anyone else see. I yearn to show the world what I have to offer, and to show people that I am so much more than a stereotypical teenager.
I am proud to call myself an Independent. As you will see if you read my journal with any regularity, I used to be a Republican, but after seeing the pointlessness of the whole Republican/Democrat war, being an Independent seemed like the choice to make. That doesn't mean I am not a strong Christian, with strong Christian morals, because I am. It simply means that I prefer to form my own opinions, without worrying what either party is saying. I don't want to feel pigeonholed into believing this is the solution to that, or that this is the only solution to that other thing.
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about me is that I am a writer.
First and foremost, my goal in life is to be an author. Not necessarily a published author, although that would be nice. I just want people to read something I have written and feel something, whether it be sorrow, joy, or maybe even confusion. If just one person looks at what I've written and is touched by it, then in my mind, writing a hundred stories to get to that one touching moment is worth it. Writing is the way I show people who I am, and without it, I wouldn't be where I am today.
I have been writing since I was about six years old. It suppose it all started in first grade, when I learned to read (or when my teachers first started teaching us how to read, that is; I was probably reading before then). I remember wanting to write, although I wasn't sure how at the time. My first story, which was written in second grade, was entitled "A Sour Skittle Story" and underwent several alterations as time went on. It was never finished, and for a while, writing was on the back burner until I started writing fanfiction. Bam, the passion was back.
That was six years ago.
I have been writing for more than half my life.
Perhaps that's why I entered this competition in the first place. I am a writer who yearns to tell people who I am, and what better way to do that than being in a competition of this magnitude?
I want to tell people about standing on a picnic table in front of my apartment when I was three or four after my family's washing machine broke. I want to tell people about sleeping in my own room in first grade, with the bugs attached to the window and the cockroach I found on my blanket that one night. I want to tell people about taking speech lessons in third grade, and being disappointed in fourth when my teacher didn't seem to like me. I want to tell people about fifth grade when I met my best friend, and sixth grade when I truly became friends with her. I want to tell people about seventh grade, when I spent a whole month researching creationism and evolution and writing down page after page after page of Internet articles. I want to tell them about my experiences in English classes over the years, and how my teachers have -- in one form or another -- showed me what I have to do to fulfill my dream.
To be honest, I just want to tell people the fact that I am a fifteen-year-old Christian Independent girl who has dreams too big for her heart, and a heart too big for her mind.
There is not much I can tell you about my past, because to be honest it is a lot like my present. Sure, I am a little older, a little wiser, but I am still just a girl. I am a girl who is trying to find her place in this world, and a girl who finds it increasingly difficult to do so. I read to escape to a different world -- just as I did at eight or nine, when I read the Harry Potter books for the first time. I write to express myself, to show the parts of myself that I often do not let anyone else see. I yearn to show the world what I have to offer, and to show people that I am so much more than a stereotypical teenager.
I am proud to call myself an Independent. As you will see if you read my journal with any regularity, I used to be a Republican, but after seeing the pointlessness of the whole Republican/Democrat war, being an Independent seemed like the choice to make. That doesn't mean I am not a strong Christian, with strong Christian morals, because I am. It simply means that I prefer to form my own opinions, without worrying what either party is saying. I don't want to feel pigeonholed into believing this is the solution to that, or that this is the only solution to that other thing.
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about me is that I am a writer.
First and foremost, my goal in life is to be an author. Not necessarily a published author, although that would be nice. I just want people to read something I have written and feel something, whether it be sorrow, joy, or maybe even confusion. If just one person looks at what I've written and is touched by it, then in my mind, writing a hundred stories to get to that one touching moment is worth it. Writing is the way I show people who I am, and without it, I wouldn't be where I am today.
I have been writing since I was about six years old. It suppose it all started in first grade, when I learned to read (or when my teachers first started teaching us how to read, that is; I was probably reading before then). I remember wanting to write, although I wasn't sure how at the time. My first story, which was written in second grade, was entitled "A Sour Skittle Story" and underwent several alterations as time went on. It was never finished, and for a while, writing was on the back burner until I started writing fanfiction. Bam, the passion was back.
That was six years ago.
I have been writing for more than half my life.
Perhaps that's why I entered this competition in the first place. I am a writer who yearns to tell people who I am, and what better way to do that than being in a competition of this magnitude?
I want to tell people about standing on a picnic table in front of my apartment when I was three or four after my family's washing machine broke. I want to tell people about sleeping in my own room in first grade, with the bugs attached to the window and the cockroach I found on my blanket that one night. I want to tell people about taking speech lessons in third grade, and being disappointed in fourth when my teacher didn't seem to like me. I want to tell people about fifth grade when I met my best friend, and sixth grade when I truly became friends with her. I want to tell people about seventh grade, when I spent a whole month researching creationism and evolution and writing down page after page after page of Internet articles. I want to tell them about my experiences in English classes over the years, and how my teachers have -- in one form or another -- showed me what I have to do to fulfill my dream.
To be honest, I just want to tell people the fact that I am a fifteen-year-old Christian Independent girl who has dreams too big for her heart, and a heart too big for her mind.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 07:38 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 07:51 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 07:52 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 08:12 pm (UTC)From:I'm looking forward to reading more of your writing as well.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 08:00 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 08:13 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 08:05 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 08:16 pm (UTC)From:Good luck to you as well!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 09:36 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 01:17 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 09:38 pm (UTC)From:Best luck this season. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 01:18 am (UTC)From:Good luck to you too!
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 12:35 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 01:05 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 12:46 am (UTC)From:Also, know that everyone has a story. And that I look forward to reading yours. Best of luck!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 01:15 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 06:00 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 08:52 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 07:01 am (UTC)From:Same here. And I love the paragraph that follows that because I understand so well. I want to let people share in all the small details as well. I just want to write everything.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 08:54 pm (UTC)From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 07:28 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 08:58 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 10:50 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 08:59 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 01:47 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:00 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 02:17 pm (UTC)From:By the time I was your age, I'd already been to 4 countries and over 20 US states. That doesn't make me a better person, it just means I'm someone who has seen 4 countries and 20+ US states. It is what you do with that, that makes you as a person tick. I've seen people with just as much travel under their belt and they never learned a thing from it.
Anyway...before I start rambling too much. Good luck to you and I can't wait to see more!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:07 pm (UTC)From:I'm sure I have some great stories locked up in my mind and I know I have some learning experiences in my life. I'm just still learning that I have things to teach people, even if I haven't been to, say, Australia or China. I am also still learning how to write about events in my life. But then again, that's what this competition is for, and I'm hoping I'll learn a lot about myself as a writer as time goes on. Already, I'm learning, actually! :D
Good luck to you as well! And if you ever want to ramble, come over here. I don't mind rambling in the least. (As you can see, as I'm just going on and on and on. ;))
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 03:06 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:08 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 05:33 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:08 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 06:21 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:11 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 06:45 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:11 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 08:04 pm (UTC)From:As for politics and Christianity, I sing in a Lutheran church in Manhattan and everyone there is a devout Christian and very committed to living out Jesus's teachings of charity toward the poor. I doubt you'd find one Republican among them. Well, maybe one. How can a political party that favors the rich be "Christian"?
Enough of politics. I actually never write about politics because I can talk politics to anyone. I like to write about my feelings. Welcome!!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:15 pm (UTC)From:Most of the Christians I know are Republicans, but I'm from a very small town that has numerous Baptist churches scattered about all around it. A lot of the people are Republicans, and some of the things they are doing in my town at the moment are really bothering me.
Anyway, thank you for your comment!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 08:15 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 09:19 pm (UTC)From:I hate rhetoric as well. It bothers me when politicians get so caught up in the whole Republican/Democrat divide and don't even try to reach across the aisle -- even though that's what they talk about in a majority of their speeches, which is nine times out of ten a load of bull.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-09 10:49 pm (UTC)From:Welcome to the competition; see you around these here fine parts :)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 02:46 am (UTC)From:And don't worry, it doesn't sound condescending at all. I know typical teenage writing, and I'm rather glad mine doesn't sound like it!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 02:31 am (UTC)From:As a mildly Christian liberal, I respect a lot of how you view life politically. (I have known to be very conservative on a lot of things)
GOOD luck.
I wish I'd had half your conviction at that age
no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 02:47 am (UTC)From:My political views do lean slightly more toward the conservative end, but so slightly that it is hardly even noticeable.
Good luck to you too!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 03:34 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 01:53 pm (UTC)From:What is your first language?
(no subject)
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Date: 2009-10-10 04:08 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 01:53 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 05:01 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 01:54 pm (UTC)From: