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In 3rd grade, I am awarded first place from my poem "My Room" in a district contest for creative writing. "My Room"
My room is a mess
and what do I care
Much to my mother's distress
So what if the floor isn't bare
I promise to do it tomorrow. Now the mess is much higher
Oh no, my mom sees my room
"Why don't we start a fire?"
"Why don't I get the broom."
I wish I cleaned it yesterday. -
My parents uproot me from my small town in Wyoming and move me to the big city of Yuma, AZ. Determined to hate everything and everyone in my new life, I spend hours on my first novel about a princess who rejects her noble responsibilities and runs away to live in the woods.
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After an agonizing year of Language Arts in Mrs. Leggett's eighth grade English class, I finally pass the Grammar Mastery Test. Through blood, sweat, and tears, I finally understand the English language--and knowing English has made all the difference.
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Woohoo! Graduated in the top 5% of my class--hard work and lots of scholarship applications later, I'm on my way to college. Go Raiders!
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Though I thought I wanted to be a poet, I discover in my second college poetry class that it's too subjective and I'm not weird enough to be a good poet. I decide to stick with fiction.
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While taking education classes during my teaching career, I have the opportunity to write a creative story for a class. It's a short story written for teens, and at the urging of my professor, I decide to leave teaching temporarily to attend graduate school in creative witing!
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It may not be a byline, but I'm credited as a nonfiction editor for the literary journal "The Fourth River."
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Graduate with my Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. Now, all I have to do is keep writing and keep sending my work out.
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Not much time for writing, what with a mortgage, marriage, and motherhood, but I'm gaining lots of life experience that will look great on paper someday.
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After careful consideration, and while I took as many creative writing classes as I could, my practical side got the better of me and I earned a high school English teaching degree. Yay for health insurance!
