The students that volunteer their time and knowledge on Reach a Student are eligible to receive community service hours. We are looking to expand our roster of academic and athletic mentors, interviewers, and video editors to help inspire and answer school-related questions. Join Us!
What Is Reach a Student?
Reach a Student is a website established to give students direct communication access to student mentors in various grade levels. Students will be able to reach out to other students and ask any questions they have regarding student and campus life. The site will also stream videos of students sharing their experiences at Windermere Prep as well as activities around campus. Find Out More
I would like to think that I am a good writer; that
I am good with words. You think it is an art, how I bleed for the world in a
verse. But I think it's a way of life, how I let myself speak the words I've
never been able to say. Writing is an art. Identical to art, the mystical crux
of writing is in the eye of the beholder. Writing, like art can come in various
magnitudes, insignias and each have their own eccentric way with words.
I find that
words can be like an incorrigible child at times. They run around in your head,
popping up at random intervals, giving you headaches and causing a
maelstrom. Words are nothing but a
jumble of inane letters, but it is your job, as a creator and as a writer, to
tame those words running in your head and bend them to coalesce into tangible
thoughts.
When I was
smaller, writing was not an event that I would happily do, not by a long shot.
Never would you find me freely obliging to write a 6-page essay for my friend.
The easiest excuse I would use was that "writing is not easy". Everyone has
their own struggles, whether it is coming up with strong thesis, plot,
characters or even having an idea to start with. When George Plimpton asked
Ernest Hemingway what the best training for an aspiring writer would be in a
1954 interview, Hemingway replied, "Let's say that he should go out and hang himself
because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult. Then he should be
cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can
for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to
commence with." This was kind of like Hemmingway's sick, comical take on
writing.
Trust me,
writing doesn't have to end in "hanging". It does not have to seem hard.
Really, it can be quite enjoyable. But unlike common belief, writing is not easy. Not in the least bit. It
is not just a scratch on top of a piece of paper or the result of a single
keystroke. No, it is the process of creating a breathing life form that is
birthed from your very own mind. If you do it just right, if will feel like you
are putting part of your soul down on the surface. It is not like a jar waiting
to be filled, more like a castle waiting to be built. Nonetheless, writing, for
anyone, is not an easy feat. However, it one of the most purest forms of art you can ever make. You
are painting with the most potent "aether" of your own heart.
When I was in high school, I was in a special math and science program
that pushed students to go as far ahead as they could. I'd already been a year
or two ahead of most of my class thanks to my middle school math classes, but
my Sophomore year of high school, I was pushed even farther.
A special independent study program was created for about 6 of us to
finish Calculus by the end of the summer and begin Calculus 2 in our Junior
year, then going to the local junior college our Senior year to take more
advanced math classes. Being someone who thought I'd be majoring in
math, I said yes and began the program. The problem became when the
work got hard, and the independent study teacher didn't have time to explain
it, and I started becoming interested in journalism. I realized my
Sophomore year that there was more to high school than just
math. I'd joined a sports team and was interested in joining the
newspaper. With so much else on my plate, I walked in on the last
day of school and turned in my Calculus book that I'd barely been understanding
as an independent study class and told my teacher I'd just take it again the
next year.
What followed were meetings with the teacher and guidance counselor
and my parents. In the end, I kept playing sports, ended up being
editor of the high school newspaper, and still finished two years of Calculus
before graduation. The writing knowledge and practice I got on the
newspaper helped in writing my $36,000 college essay (as I called it because of
the scholarship money it awarded). The diversified program I ended
up working out did far better for me than just a plain math
education. It even led me to double major in college in both
Mathematics and Elementary Education.
Don't just let yourself be led through your school life by people
telling you to do stuff just because you can or just because it's
offered. Take control of your education and branch out. You never
know what you're going to end up doing, so experience as many things as
possible now! It's OK to say NO to some classes, experiences, clubs,
etc. Especially when it allows you to say YES to others!
