Everyone remembers what made them fall in love with reading for the first time. In my case, it's all blurry and hazy.
I remember loving The Diary of the Wimpy Kid books, The Rainbow Magic books, The Dork Diary books, and the How I Survived Middle School books. But the book that stuck with me to this day was Isabel of the Whales by Hester Velmans. There was something magical and life-changing about it that's difficult to put into words, but it used to be my favourite book.
Somehow, my love for reading challenged my creativity and encouraged me to write random, incomplete stories that I still hoard in my drawers.
Now, we fast forward to 2016 when I was in high school. I was in grade 10 and thinking back to the book Isabel of the Whales. I recall having the sudden urge to read it again, so I asked my best friend in math class about where I can read books online for free.
It was the moment that she introduced me to Wattpad, a free reading and writing platform, helped me create an account, and added a few books in my Digital library, my life would change forever. I didn't know it then, but every time I look back, I am forever grateful for my friend and Wattpad. Specifically, the one particular book she added in my library called She's With Me by Jessica Cunsolo.
Everyone remembers the first time they fell in love with reading. I remember the second time much clearly than my first.
She's With Me had not only become my new favourite book and later on a three-part series; it gave birth to the writer in me and opened a whole new world in my mind filled with tons of room for imagination and creativity.
The book and the author herself inspired me to clearly formulate my thoughts and start writing the story that had been running through my mind for a while. It was a paranormal fiction (technically, a fan fiction) with thriller elements and romance as a sub-plot. I remember watching a particular Doctor Who episode on YouTube about weeping angels, which was the origin for my inspiration, and thus, my story was a technical fan fiction based on that single episode.
Overtime, One book led me to write another, although the second one was much more cringe (in my opinion), and that led me to experiment with poetry, although it was pretty random back then. I even tried my hands at science fiction! It didn't go super well, but it was still fun while it lasted.
After completion, I rewrote the first book, "Weeping Angel," three times, and I plan to rewrite it once again, but I currently don't have the motivation to work on it. However, despite this project, I wrote many short stories, and many more poems. I stopped writing random poems that didn't mean anything to me and created a poetry anthology called "Midnight Garden of Words" on Wattpad. In it, I wrote very specific poems that came from my personal experience, my thoughts and opinions, my ideas, and my beliefs.
There's one thing I didn't mention about my high school life that very much has something to do with me being a writer. Writing used to be a passionate hobby for me and I didn't think I do much with it in high school unlike the Wattpad authors that became famous at a young age and that inspired me.
When I was in high school, I was on my way to become an IT person. Computer science and information technology intrigued me in high school. My dad worked in the field as well so I got some of my motivation and encouragement to be a part of the field from him. I had always been interested in knowing the "behind-the-scenes," as I called it, of the different games I used to play, such as Minecraft.
It's mind boggling when you think about how someone could've crafted such a cool game, and I used to wanted to be a part of that process.
I had taken relevant courses such as math and computer science. I was never the best in math (it was always English over math for me), but computer science seemed fairly easy and I enjoyed it until grade 12 came along. I realized computer science and information technology was much more complicated than I figured it'd be, so I had lots of trouble keeping up.
From mental breakdowns to near panic attacks, the pressure of following my dad's footsteps, along with the anxiety of not being able to learn Javascript in my senior year's computer science class became unbearable.
Somehow, while going through all that chaos, I realized computer science might not be what I want to have a full-time career in; maybe I wasn't prepared for the challenges because I couldn't figure out how to code in Javascript, or maybe I was overwhelmed because I didn't understand Javascript, no matter how hard I tried.
You know what I did, though? I applied for computer science or information technology programs in universities in December 2018 because I thought I could do it. However, January 2019 was that terrible month filled with mental breakdowns, plenty of doubts, and the pressure of getting good grades.
My grades for math and computer science mattered to me more than anything then because they determined my ability to get into a good university program that I thought I wanted to get into. In math, I barely managed to get a grade in the low 60s, and in computer science, I somehow managed to pull off a 74% (turns out I did know some Javascript and I leaned onto Chegg for help).
The dark times passed, and I moved onto my second semester of high school. Soon enough, I got accepted at York University for computer science or informational technology! It was exciting then; I didn't think I'd feel that overwhelmed or anxious again until September came along, and I found myself feeling uneasy. It was the same feeling I felt all throughout January all those months ago, and it was eating me alive.
Despite my grades, I didn't want to go through all that stress again. The week of my final exams was the lowest I had been in my entire life. I had the most darkest thoughts and doubted everything in the world. Why would I put myself through that again? I made up my mind and thought about changing my program to the next best thing I could find.
When I stumbled upon the Professional Writing program, it sounded too good to be true! As I read through the program and course descriptions, I felt inner peace. My instinct told me this was the program made for me.
Within the first week of university, I switched into Professional Writing and felt like someone had lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. Things were a little overwhelming at first, especially at home (it took my parents a while to accept my decision) but I got used to it. I got used to constantly writing in different forms and styles. I got used to learning more and more about the world of writing and soon, the publishing industry.
Following my heart made me discover something that I loved, and now I'm in my fourth year of university; I'm more experienced and full of knowledge than I was in my first year. I grew as a writer and discovered that I'm also a good editor too! I volunteered for a Canadian literary magazine that published via my university's writing department called Existere - Journal of Arts and Literature as a Junior and Senior Poetry Editor.
Professional Writing helped me think more clearly what I wanted to do with my life and in the future. It helped me formulate my goals and taught me the different ways I can achieve them. You could say this program somehow led me to fall in love with reading for the third time, which was sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic, which further led me to become a book blogger on Instagram and TikTok!
So, what lesson should you take with you after reading my super long life story? Follow your heart! Figure out what it's trying to tell you and go with that gut feeling if you feel you're doing something that doesn't make you happy.
Happiness is where passion lies, and my passion has always been in writing and reading. What's your passion? What makes you happy?
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