The Thrilling Tale of an Ant's Journey by JJ

The Thrilling Tale of an Ant's Journey by JJ - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

When I first walked into Mr. L's classroom, I was taken by surprise by the extravagant decorations and the talkative man engaging with a student at his desk. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and I didn't know anybody taking his Creative Writing class with me. He jumped into a lesson quite quickly, one that was more than us sitting and listening to him talk about how to write. Mr. L believed that you write best by doing it over and over and over again. So we did. We wrote multiple pieces every class and he had us search our brains deep within for a hint of creativity, squeezing us dry of our words. I grew to look forward to his class. He was the only teacher who I felt understood what real passion was. I took more writing classes after his, but I always remember his advice in the back of my head with every new paragraph: it's not what you're writing about, but how you're writing about it. A book on war might be the most dull thing, but the writer that knows what they're doing can turn an ant's search for food into an epic that grabs you and won't let go. In theory, in journalism, all news should be exciting to read. But I've found that's not the case. True journalism is all about diving underneath the surface and pulling from the depths a hidden story that another might not have uncovered. It's all about how you write. As I look towards my future, Mr. L is the reason I am the writer I am. He taught me to be passionate and never settle for less; push yourself until there's nothing more to give.