Little Kid

As a college student/intern/tutor/babysitter/freelance writer figuring out what I want to do with my life, I wouldn't be where I am now without the help of some amazing people who helped me early on in my career. They could have easily ignored me and dismissed me as a "little kid," but instead, they took me under their wing and gave me work experience, guidance, and time that I will always value.

Thank you to the editor of the Town Journal in Ridgewood, NJ. At 14, I sent you my book report on the Odyssey as well as suggested that I become the paper's next book reviewer. You didn't laugh, but invited me into your office for a meeting, where you offered me the position. I was elated. You worked with me through awful draft after awful draft peppered with nonsensical words from the thesaurus because I thought they sounded fancy (and New York Times-esque). You sent me long e-mails full of suggestions about how to improve my writing, and I took each one to heart. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to work with me and allowing me to pursue what I thought was merely a dream.

Thank you to Kate Jackson of HarperCollins Publishers. After I wrote an article in the Town Journal about my disdain for teen books, she wrote an editorial in response. I then asked if we could meet and discuss our differing opinions on teen literature, and she agreed. When we met, she offered me a summer internship at the company in the children's editorial department. Kate and the team I worked with that summer were incredible, and it made me realize that writing will always be a part of my life.

My point here is that if you're young, don't be afraid to do what you love. I used to think that I had to be of a certain age to accomplish certain things, but I don't think that way any longer. Age isn't a barrier to accomplishments, and it doesn't define who you are. Always strive to achieve, no matter how old you are.


Julia Lynch
New York, NY

Comments

Post a Comment

Favorites

This is a puzzle.

Beyond this message a challenge awaits; In the listserve, no links are allowed, what a cruel fate! The first clue must be deciphered by ROT 8. . Let me know and just email if your brain needs a spark Your first clue is just after this punctuation mark / dsoqwj vwxwfvafy lge jgtafkgf af lg cadd s egucafytajv Listserve Puzzle listservepuzzle[AT]gmail.com
Read more

21,612 is a lot

Hi, everyone. I'm a teenaged girl. I'm not arrogant enough to think that I know much about the world. I'm 18, a freshman in college, and I struggle every day trying to see into the future: into what might be, where I might go. Recently I've decided that my destiny in life is to be a high-school biology teacher, but ask me again later and perhaps that will have changed. One thing I feel passionate about is body modification. Somehow my standards of beauty have developed in a way that put piercings, tattoos, implants and scarification at the forefront. However, my parents have threatened to cut off their funding for my education if I modify myself in any way. I already have piercings, and though my family will never see them due to their private locations, I would love to be able to share this important part of my life with them and express myself through modification in a more public way. Essentially, they have rejected my lifestyle, and through this, they have ...
Read more

Tiny wings

Hi all, I want to write about a subject that is very close to my heart - bees! I started bee keeping last year, and have two colonies right now. These two already managed to supply my family and my friends with more than enough honey, and keeping the bees is a tremendously satisfying activity. They smell so good, and are very tidy animals, and are just very, very interesting overall. The insects' way of dealing with the world is just so very different from how we as mammals approach it - it seems almost alien. Anyways, what is probably most impressive is the workload these little animals deal with. For one kilo of honey, they visit 4 million flowers, and fly a distance equivalent of more than 4 times around the earth. Think about that for a second. And then, if you start to think about how they "furniture" their housing themselves by the wax they sweat out, how they can control temperature inside the hive to the tenth of a degree, how they collectively make decisions i...
Read more