"Why Writing Matters" by JK Rowling

Someone once told me “Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go”. Over time my writing has matured in style, vocabulary, organization, and creativity. However, my realization of its significance is relatively recent. I had always been writing ever since I was younger but never fully understood its value until it started being more involved in my academic career. Writing impacts people tremendously, whether it is someone else’s work or their own work. Writing is important to me because it’s a form of expression and an essential skill to have in my academic career.

After learning how to write when I was younger, I began to keep a journal. Whenever I got frustrated with my parents or sister, which wasn’t often, I had no idea how to handle my emotions. Unfortunately this often led me to scream and fight with them.  There was so much I wanted to say but didn’t know how to put it into words so I wouldn’t get in trouble. I had so much anger built up, but no safe outlet to express it. Writing in my journal, gave me the freedom to say the things I always wanted to say and let my inner madman fly. It felt alleviating to put my emotions on paper and would immediately make me feel better. It quickly became my therapy. I even surprised myself when I began to write poetry after a tough break up with my first boyfriend. Being able to put my emotions on paper helped me through my heartbreak. I kept a separate journal for all my poems, which I’m glad I did because I love going back to read them and laugh at myself. I had never thought I could be creative enough to write poetry, but then I realized it didn’t matter if it was good; it was about how it made me feel. Not all writing is perfect and makes sense to other people. That is what makes personal writing so great and liberating. 

Throughout my education I’ve needed to be able to write more and more as the years pass and I take harder classes. I’ve been taking SOL’s dedicated to only writing ever since elementary school till just last year as a junior. I can’t even tell you the number of essay’s I’ve turned in and have been graded on, which doesn’t even include my English class. I have also had to write research papers in history and Latin. Even what I write for homework gets graded on.  All the AP exams have a writing section of the test. However writing has never been so important in my academic career until now. Because I’m applying to college my writing is going to be judged and evaluated. Writing a good or bad essay can determine my future at that college, which is why it’s so important to have writing as a skill. Writing a good essay is what really captures people and seals the deal to an acceptance to college. It became clear to me this year that being able to write well was essential for succeeding in all my classes, because you write in every single class, whether its for homework, essays, short answers, or in class assignments. This makes writing so important to me because I want to achieve my goals in school and succeed.

People frequently forget that writing is all around us. It’s the thank you letter you write to your aunt, it’s the emails you send at work, the papers you write for school, your private journal entries, or even text messages to your friends. You use writing in your personal and professional life everyday. For me, I use writing at school and at home. I’m a very private person and being able to write down my feelings, fears, and dreams allows me to be free of built up tensions and is my form of expression. Writing is also my academic strength and I enjoy doing something I’m good at.