Before I even enrolled at St. Louis U. High, I knew I wanted to be a writer. Since grade school I had been telling stories, writing poetry, and reading books every spare minute between classes and every free weekend. The texts in my English classes looked like coloring books from all the annotations, underlines, highlighting, and side-space notes I applied when I read each chapter for homework. 

My passion for writing—and my love of English as a whole—was one of the main reasons I applied to SLUH. I can still remember my older brothers staying up late at night to finish their reading assignments, or asking my mother to proofread their lengthy English essays every month. “They push English hard,” my brother Alex, who graduated in 2013, told me when I was younger. “Once you walk out of SLUH, they want your essays to be just as good as a college student’s. Sometimes, they want them to be even better.” 

That statement was one of many positive critiques of SLUH’s English Department that ensured my decision to come here, and helped me believe that one day, SLUH could transform me into the writer I’ve always dreamed of becoming. And yet, I never could have expected my love of English and capability of writing to grow this much.

In freshman English, Mrs. Carroll plucked my quarter exam essay out of the 25 or so from my class and used it as an example for proofreading and structuring our assignment. As most meek and unsure freshmen would be in my situation, I was both proud and terrified, equally exhilarated and ashamed. I didn’t want to come off as a teacher’s pet or know-it-all, but I also didn’t want my writing to be seen as inadequate or average. I knew my essay wasn’t perfect (none of my essays ever are), and the exam was too long ago to remember if it was overstuffed or lacking quotes and substance. That essay that I scribbled down with my terrible handwriting in the span of an hour and a half exam had to be just right, or otherwise I would be embarrassed, belittled, or both. 

Looking back on my essay being shared, I think that the flaws in my writing were what led to it being shared: what I wrote was good stuff—something I was quick to learn due to my class’ reaction to it—but I wouldn’t have known I had it in me if it weren’t for Mrs. Carroll’s extra encouragement and push out of my comfort zone. 

With that newfound confidence, I continued my passion for writing throughout the rest of my English classes at SLUH. Throughout the second half of sophomore year, the incredible Mr. George would read and give me feedback on my Prep News articles after they were published. Whether my article came back with some red marks that he recommended I fix next time, or if he told me it was perfect, getting help and encouragement from as great a poet and teacher as him made my week, and has been one of the key reasons why I kept at my articles and features and what helped inspire me to create a movie review blog. In junior year, Mr. Hussung became one of my closest friends and mentors, as he helped me streamline my poetry and better establish my creative essays.

And now, in my senior year, my journey of English and writing at SLUH has hit an incredible peak: I get the honor of taking two awesome English classes, one that teaches me to be inspired by the fantastical aspects that we find in both literature and the real world, and one that teaches me what it means to be a true hero. Just recently I had the incredible opportunity to talk with the author of our all school read The Other Side, and as an aspiring writer, receiving a professional writer’s advice has impacted me thoroughly.

SLUH English has given me gifts and opportunities beyond measure, including everything from expanding my library of authors and poets, to letting me connect my life and personal experiences with the characters I’ve learned about in books from Catch-22 to The Road. More than any other online class, summer camp in the city, or my favorite author’s response on Twitter, my experiences with English and writing at SLUH have paved the way for my future career, and forged me into the artist I am today. Whether it was teaching me how to love, how to survive, how to stay true, how to build strength, or how to save a life, the SLUH English Department taught me all of it, and everything I apply to my writing, I owe my thanks to the people who make it up.

(Many thanks to my former English teachers Mrs. Carroll and Mr. George, my current English teachers Mr. Hussung and Mr. O’Brien, Prep News moderator Mr. Missey, and fellow English teachers Mr. Cruz, Mr. Kavanaugh, and especially Mr. Mohr, S.J., for keeping me inspired, active, and engaged, and for reminding me that there will always be mountains to climb, but even more stories to tell).