In my 9th grade Advanced English class, I made our teacher cry. It all started there for me. Not that I enjoyed making people cry, but that my poem, my words, had elicited such a deep physical response. I had never felt so seen, heard, and maybe even appreciated. It is a high I have chased ever since. Life happens though. I had a very hard time in my late teens and early 20's, and school was lost in the mix of just trying cling on to life. A little later I became a mother to a beautiful son, and working to provide the best life for him became the priority. You tend to lose yourself a bit when they are young, thinking only of who you need to be for them, instead of who you once were. I unknowingly started what would turn out to be a career in the medical field. I started as a receptionist at a local medical group when I was 18 and over the course of 12.5 years I managed to climb to the near top and become the manager of a whole department at the administrative level. I was deeply proud of myself and the woman I had fought tooth and nail to become, but I was still not fulfilled. In the depths of my soul was that young woman who had once moved her teacher to tears with her poetry. As my son turned five and the time for kindergarten to start was nearing, I found myself looking at him wondering who he’d become, what dreams he’d have, and what passions would ignite inside him. This made me realize I had been so focused on providing for him, I wasn’t doing him justice as a role model to follow his passions. So, I left my career in the medical field and jumped into the deep terrifying unknown. I reapplied for college to start my literary career. It is the single most petrifying, stressful decision I have ever made. But I kept thinking back to that young woman who was so passionate about reading and writing. A passion that continued to burn bright, even through all life’s changes, and all the different people I had become along the way. It was the one constant, because it is an essential part of me, of who I am. I don’t know what will become of this journey, but I know I’ll never regret it. Never regret remembering the core of who I am, refusing to ignore the dreams I once had, and disregarding the discouraging words and fear that kept me frozen for so long. I swear to that young woman and our shared dreams, no matter the trials and tribulations, we will write that book one day.