About Me Wednesday: How I was convinced into wanting to write

While trying to find theme's to write about on each day I figured I could share a bit about myself on Wednesdays.

When I was younger (and possibly still today) I was much more fickle than most kids. I would change my clothes half way through the day, change my taste in music constantly, and change my desired vocation close to everyday. I remember wanting to be (in some order) a ballerina, an astronaut, an artist, a rock star, a scientist, and an actress. I was easily dissuaded too. I stopped wanting to be a scientist and an artist when I realized I wasn't the best in my class at either subject and when I noticed I had a slight fear of heights the whole astronaut thing went to hell to.

When I was in my actress phase during sixth grade I had a fantastic teacher. Mrs. Estridge is still one of my favorite teachers from school. She was so nice and very good at her job. I wrote something for her class about wanting to be an actress. She sent it back to me asking to see me after class. I went to her desk and she told me that she thought I should try to be a writer. Mrs. Estridge was the first person to tell me that I could write and more than that, make a career out of it. I thought about it and decided that if she thought that I was good at it I might give it a try. I already loved reading and could lose myself almost completely in a story, why not do it myself? I visited her when I was in High School and she still remembered me and told me that if I write something to let her know and she will find me a publisher. Whatever I write in the end my first book will be dedicated to her. She also turned me on to the Harry Potter books. I just got a lightening bolt tattoo on my wrist last month.

The second teacher who I owe my perseverance of writing to is Mr. Simpson. He was my Junior year English teacher and his style of teaching was captivating. He could hold everyone's attention and make the class time go by in the blink of an eye. At that age, being told that I could write may not have been enough. He told me that I have a distinctive style to my writing. I turned in pieces of my own writing for class and he always made sure to encourage me to continue with them. He assigned everyone in class a movie and asked us to try and figure out why he felt that movie related to us. He gave me "The Girl With the Pearl Earring." To this day I have no idea why and the closest I have got was when I told him I wanted to publish a book with an accompanying CD and he told me that was why he picked the movie.

These two teachers, more than anything else, have helped make me the person I am today. As flawed and mostly irresponsible that person is I have never lost the belief in myself that I can write and that my writing is unique to myself.