I have set a goal for myself this semester to try and write one article every week, and here’s why.
I used to love writing when I was really young. In elementary school and junior high, I would write stories thinking I was going to make a book. I never did finish any of them… but that’s beside the point. Once I got into high school, writing became less fun. It was all about academics, and it felt like the creativity had been sucked out of it. Now, years later, I am writing as much as possible to try and reconnect with that younger version of myself that loved it so much.
Writing articles for Her Campus has become an amazing creative outlet for me. Especially since most of my classes don’t involve too much creativity, this is a way for me to still stay connected to that part of myself. Getting to do something at least once a week that is fun and creative has been great for my mental health especially since writing about things that I love is something that makes me genuinely happy.
Writing articles has also helped me to start feeling more confident in my writing abilities. Coming to Bentley my freshman year, I thought I was a terrible writer. I was not at all confident in my abilities, and when I joined Her Campus I was terrified to actually write an article. I thought that whatever I wrote would be terrible and that no one would like it.
What I’ve realized since then is that my articles aren’t actually terrible, and if they were, no one would bother reading them at all. But even more important than that, I have learned that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of my writing or my articles. What matters is how I feel, and if I am proud of something that I write, then that is all that matters. Shifting my thinking to be more focused on myself and the opinions I can control, I have found that writing is now something that makes me truly happy.
In fact, I have noticed recently that there are times where I will sit down to write only one article, but then I’ll end up writing two and brainstorming ideas for five more. Every time I finish an article I feel accomplished and productive. Whenever one of my articles gets published, I still get just as excited as I did when my first article went live. It’s a feeling I just can’t explain. I guess you could call it pride, or just feeling accomplished, but it’s also more than that. Writing articles for Her Campus has helped me to become more confident in all aspects of my life, while also helping me realize how vital creativity is for me.
I am extremely thankful for having joined Her Campus freshman year as it has helped me to grow so much. I have been able to become more sure of myself when it comes to writing — whether for a class assignment or a creative article — and I have been able to become more confident with myself in all aspects of my life.