Barbara Peña

   Had I taken the same approach I'd become a insurance salesman, like my dad. A job in which he excels in. I admire him immensely for providing his family a comfortable living, as he had come from nothing and then build himself from the ground up... a real self-made man. In a good meaning manner, it was implied by him in my childhood he expected me to follow his legacy and become an insurance salesman. He treated me in the exact same way as my brothers as any 21st century father would: "You should get a degree, and you should make your own money to not rely on a partner if you wish it so."

   I knew his journey and mine were not going to be the same; he was a man that could have wrote the book How to Make Friends and Influence People because he is so great at both. I learned the power of convincing people through my writing.

   I always loved books, especially those with English as the original language. It wasn't until later when I realized my love for literature could not only be a hobby and a happy outlet for me, but also that I am talented in it. I started writing my first novel just few days before I turned 15. I remember because I was in my grandma's house bored and depressed that I wasn't invited to a girl's Quinceañera whom I didn't know at all... May 6th, 2017. Fast forward a year later, my book before that had just been a well kept secret of mine, I used it as my own personal journal sometimes but instead of my life, I wrote Noah and Malia's. I wrote a chapter filled with depictions of mental illness, complicated family situations and secrecy, and though harrowing and crude, made for a good standalone short story that I used for an assignment for English class. Mr. Andrew, American world traveler/ English teacher graded my story A++ told me the following: "Barbara, this could pass as college-level writing in America. And English is not even your fist language. Keep pursuing this."

   Mr. Andrew most likely doesn't even remember me or that conversation we had a few weeks before  graduated Middle School, but I will remember it for the rest of my life as the validation I needed to consider myself talented enough to make a living out of this. I follow Mr. Andrews advice to this day, and it led me to Rome, Italy, majoring in English Literature with minors in Creative Writing and Art Studio.

   Even if I cannot do it as a main job in the future, I will always write. And I will become an author.

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   The novel I started at 15 will be published as soon as I finish re-writing it (for the millionth time) which is a few chapters away.

 

Learn more about Drought and Famine here!

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