Student interest leads to out-of-class writing
From right student writers like junior, Jenae Galang, and seniors Erika Taylor and Jennifer Marcellus have developed a passion for writing outside of the classroom.
April 3, 2009 • written by Matt Maxion
Maybe one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Walking down the halls amid a swarming pool of students, one may never guess—unless with the power of clairvoyance—the number of aspiring writers they pass.
“A lot of people wouldn’t expect me to write or be as deep as I am,” junior Jenae Galang said. “Looks can be deceiving.”
Galang finds poetry and short stories as a means of releasing pent-up emotions from familial and social struggles. Along with writing about these struggles, Galang tends to write about love and infidelity.
“One of my favorite poets is Dana Gilmore, a poet under Def Jam,” Galang said. “I really related to her writing and connected to them emotionally. She puts my emotions into words.”
Similar to Galang, student writers, such as senior Erika Taylor, express different interpretations of the obscure concept of love.
“I tend to write about cute clichéd romance, yet it’s still dramatic,” Taylor said. “I like taking clichés and reforming them in totally original ways.”
In “Tattoo of Your Name,” a short story written by Taylor, she addresses the snarky immaturity of a girl named Tessa who decides to get a tattoo of her best friend’s name, Emmet, who is also her love interest, on her back. The plot continues to unravel Tessa’s enamored feelings for her best friend as the story revolves around her rash decision to get the tattoo.
While Taylor enjoys developing a romantic style, writers like junior Sabrina Chee appreciate stories of teenage angst.
“My writing is driven by teenage angst and down-to-earth sci-fi; not so much about the cutesy stuff,” Chee said. “In my short stories, the main character either dies or becomes realistic of their own expectations.”
Chee attains inspiration from sci-fi contemporaries such as Tamora Pierce and Dean Koontz.
“Pierce writes about alternate realities that I’ve become totally entranced with; her novels still suck me in,” Chee said. “And Koontz goes into human psychology in ways I would’ve never imagined. His portrayals of the human mind are very realistic.”
Chee’s current work in progress, “Thoughts,” incorporates psychological themes from both Pierce and Koontz as the story traces the life of a boy who possesses an uncontrollable power to hear other people’s thoughts. The story becomes more complicated as the boy begins to hear overlapping voices from random strangers.
“[After] learning all of these thoughts, he can’t take it all in,” Chee said. “This comes to show that learning apathy is very difficult.”
Likewise, writing has always been an outlet for students to channel their emotions and past experiences onto a piece of paper whether it be a novel, a short story, or a poem.
“Writing is very therapeutic,” senior Jennifer Marcellus said. “I could just write and get all my feelings out. It’s like an escape.”
Unlike some writers, Marcellus can draw inspiration from the most mundane of things.
“Inspiration come randomly to me,” Marcellus said. “That’s why I carry a pen with me at all times.”
Marcellus’ current project, so far untitled, addresses the struggle between individuality and societal restrictions. The story follows the life of Aurora, a girl who has been brainwashed inside a government-corrupted academy. It is up to her partner, Palto, to provoke Aurora’s forgotten memories as they escape from the academy’s confinements.
“No matter who people have forced you to become,” Marcellus said, “you could still become the person you want to be.”
Marcellus also plans to major in creative writing in college and hopes to continue her knack for writing in the future.
“I see myself going into book editing and publishing,” Marcellus said. “Hopefully, I’ll be published as a writer.”
Though seemingly different, all of these students share one thing in common—a desire to put intangible thoughts in their heads onto a piece of paper. Perhaps, readers will extrapolate these thoughts during a pleasant read on their comfy sofa.
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