If you read my first blog, “From Daydreamer to Writer,” you know that I love writing. What I didn’t mention was that I used to be extremely quiet in school, even throughout most of my undergrad. Sometimes I can still be fairly quiet until I get to know you better. When I was in 3rd grade, I actually was tested for a speech impediment. I guess I used to stammer quite a bit and speak in garbled sentences. The specialist determined that the problem was not an impediment, but rather, I had so many ideas floating around in my head, I had difficulty organizing them into sentences.

While speaking could be frustrating, writing was a huge relief! I could write, and re-write my ideas until I got them just right. In 4th grade I wrote a 45-page story about man-eating plants. I was inspired by watching The Little Shop of Horrors late one night in my grandparents’ living room. My parents and extended family frequently played cards there until midnight. We were too poor to afford cable, so my sister and I loved going to our grandparents. We could watch all the late-night scary movies while the adults were preoccupied with their card games. I wish I still had that story, but unfortunately I decided it was dumb and threw it away. Sometime around 6th grade I wrote another story (around 100 pages) about squirrels and trolls living in the forest. That time I was inspired by reading The Wind in the Willows. Unfortunately, I lost it somewhere in my dad’s house.

To this day, I get nervous when people ask for my opinion about something—unless it’s about music (which is my biggest passion). Even then I sometimes get nervous. I am determined to someday rid myself of these nerves!!

Until next time. Remember, “Life is an adventure.”