When I think about writing, I don’t see it as just an assignment anymore. For a while, that’s all it was to me, just something teachers gave us as a task to do. They would talk about the significance of writing and how we’d need it in high school and college. The teachers would make us write reports that were boring, always saying things like “I know you don’t want to do this, but we have to” . I never felt excited or happy about expressing myself through words, and I didn’t see how it could help me deal with my stress or anxiety. This changed after I met my amazing writing teacher, Mr. Weber. Mr. Weber was the first teacher to make me really interested in writing. While other teachers treated writing as just another assignment, he explained that writing can be amazing, creative and worth improving at. He explained that writing is a skill you have to keep practicing at to get better. He also told us that the best writers continue to improve their work. He stated that all you need to do is sit down and write what comes to mind like ideas, thoughts, or anything.This advice had a big impact on me. Writing now takes away the stress I used to feel. Suddenly writing felt more like a creative process than just schoolwork. One of the most important things I learned from Mr. Weber was the idea of the writing process. Before, I would get stuck whenever I couldn’t think of the “right” ideas, or when my sentences didn’t come out exactly how I wanted. Mr. Weber taught us how to brainstorm and write your ideas down – even if they don’t make sense yet. Also, he taught us how rough drafts can always be improved by revision, editing and polishing. This completely changed my mind on how I look at writing.
Our teacher also explained how important it is to think about your audience. Who are you writing to? What do you want them to feel or understand? That made writing feel more real and honest to me and fun. Instead of following a list or rubric, I started thinking about how my writing could help other people, especially those going through stress and anxiety.
In 8th grade I started feeling overwhelmed. We had switched classes a lot, and I was always anxious about being late. I began having anxiety from going from one classroom to the next one. On top of all that, I felt like I had to act a certain way. That made me feel like I wasn’t being true to myself. Even during sports or just everyday life, I started writing things down, sometimes just short notes, other times much longer pieces about what’s happening that day or how I was feeling. Now I don’t have those problems. Writing has become an outlet for me. It helped relieve my stress and anxiety from a new perspective. Most of all it made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Writing helped me feel like things were more manageable. Sometimes, when I wrote about a problem it started feeling smaller or at least clearer. Other problems seemed insignificant once I got them out of my head. And even when nothing changed in real life, it just helped to write everything down. Writing has now become much more than an assignment or task, it’s become more personal and meaningful to me. Whenever life gets challenging, I know I have a way to handle it that actually works. Thanks to Mr. Weber, I discovered that writing isn’t just work, it’s a way to understand myself and connect with others. I never thought putting my thoughts and feelings on paper could make a difference but, it has. Now, I can’t imagine my life without writing. Maybe writing won’t solve every problem, but it gives me a way to manage things. I’m so grateful I discovered it when I did. I’m grateful I found that out when I did, and I hope anyone who is struggling will give writing a try. It might help more than you expect.
Stephen VanHook – Brother Rice High School – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: lovelyday12 – Adobe Stock