My First Time

It was my first time entering a literary contest and when the professor encouraged us to do it I couldn’t have been more excited. At first, I had so much work from other classes that I thought I would submit the previous poem we had given to our professor. But somehow, I thought I could do better. I felt like in the previous poem I held back from what I really wanted my work to be, because I just thought “Oh, its just a silly poem”. But I can honestly say that having the chance to be recognized for something that you don’t usually do (I study biology) actually got me motivated. Therefore I decided to create another poem, and this time I didn’t hold back.

I decided my theme and I even did a little bit of research, as I wanted my poem to be accurate and formal. After writing, it felt like I had given the paper a part of me. It felt like I had turned into a New York Times bestselling author during those few hours. As an insecure person, but also as a writer, I send my work to a friend, which knows how to give me feedback. I was so scared as I felt this poem was almost a part of me and as usual I was scared of what others might think of it. To my surprise, she loved it! She even specified this one verse that she thought gave so much emotion to my poem. What can I say? I was completely confident now.

       

After submitting my poem, the waiting time for it to be reviewed was tense. I was so anxious to know who were the winners! Sadly, I didn’t win nor I was an honorable mention. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the experience. If a literary contest was the catalyst that got me to discover my inner writer, than I’m glad I did it. Somehow, I didn’t feel like I failed; if anything I felt like I succeeded. I’m so glad I got to uncover a part of me that I didn’t know and I feel extremely motivated not to write another poem, but to see what my writing teaches me next!