In the Spotlight

“Your personal experience essay is due on Monday. Don’t forget,” my teacher, Mrs. Wieser, told me on a Friday afternoon.

“Okay, thank you. Bye, have a great weekend.” I said this as if I remembered. But what was really going through my head was, “Nooooo, I completely forgot. Oops, oh well.” Back when I was in fifth grade, I wasn’t such a great student. I always did my work, but I didn’t really like it. I figured it just wasn’t the thing for me. But this time it was a little different.

I had never really written an essay before. Sure, I did my occasional book reports, but nothing on the personal level. Since I had just gone to Australia the year before, I decided to write about the Great Barrier Reef. The hardest part of it all was to start it; after that, it all just flowed out of my fingertips. There were times when I had to dig deep inside myself to really tell everyone how much fun I had. I mean, when would I get the chance to tell people the cool stuff I do? Something like that doesn’t easily come up in conversations between fifth graders.

These are reasons why I would rather write. With this assignment, I realized that when I write, I have complete control. No one can tell me what to say or do. I get to tell my story how I want to and the person reading would have no choice but to follow along. I liked that power.

It turned out that I received the highest grade in the class and Mrs. Wieser wanted to read it to the class. I was so happy; but at the same time I became very nervous because everyone was going to hear what I wrote. My heart started to beat louder than my teacher’s voice, but not enough to block it out. When she finished, I looked around to see my classmates’ reactions, and what I saw was good. I heard, “Wow, that was awesome,” or, “I liked it” throughout the classroom.

This experience changed me completely as a student and person. Those who know me today would probably have a hard time imagining me as someone who didn’t really work hard, or was quiet in school. But this is what writing did for me. It made me fall in love with being noticed and respected. The sudden burst of self-confidence drove me to excel far beyond everyone else, in everything I did. Today, I write and enjoy it for two reasons: I like the power of control, and I can’t help but enjoy the spotlight.