An Author's Call To Adventure

Emma Goggins awakens a previously unknown aspiration for writing.

By Emma Goggins

When I was 9 years old, my sister gave me a leopard-spotted scarf that changed my life. Now, that may sound like an exaggeration, and it’s not half as dramatic as it may sound. What happened was relatively simple, but it marked a turning point for me that changed the way I viewed myself and the world by introducing me to something important: the power of storytelling.

It started the day my little sister acquired three different scarves during school, one of which was leopard printed. I immediately wanted it and convinced her to let me have it. That same night, for reasons I can’t explain, I was completely restless and couldn’t fall asleep. As I looked over at my new scarf where it hung on my coat rack, I decided to play with it. For some random reason, I tied the scarf around my eyes and the craziest, most creative idea my little 9-year-old self could come up with popped into my head. What if I was the daughter of Medusa from Greek mythology, and I had to spend my life in a hospital, blindfolded because I had inherited my mother’s ability to turn people to stone? A whole story started to form in my mind of an adventurous little girl who was friends with Medusa’s daughter and set out on a dangerous journey to help rid her of her powers so she could live happily in society.

Afterwards, I dreamed up a prequel story involving the same young girl who went on a dangerous quest to revive the spirit of a mighty leopard whose skin could heal any injury or disease. I woke up the next morning feeling unsettled and inspired. I’m not sure how to explain it, but as I watched my family going about their day normally, I felt a little out of place, like something was supposed to be different but it wasn’t. The feeling of inspiration refused to leave me, and I decided to start writing. I will never forget the swell of pride I felt when I completed the first chapter, and it was then I realized that this is something I enjoy doing.

The book took me a year to write and it was a fun process. Some days I could barely write a few words in the book before I felt like quitting, and other days I felt so committed. I will never forget the day I finally finished my book. A moment of disbelief briefly overtook me as I stared at the battered, purple journal that held my entire story. I had not completely believed I could do it, especially at my age, yet, there it was; my very own story.

The memory of elation and pride I felt that day still brings a smile to my face even now, nearly eight years later. I still carry with me the love of reading, the passion to write, and the determination to succeed. This is what led me to join Mr. Miller’s journalism class at Springfield High School. Looking around his classroom during magazine production time, I see now that my story of inspiration isn’t just my story, but the story of many.

Stories help us express ourselves, portraying the feelings and creativity we normally keep within us on a dayto-day basis. We all have a secret spirit inside that longs to show itself and, from what I’ve seen, individual creativity sparks creativity in others, allowing for new ideas and new possibilities that we can use to innovate and change the world for the better, helping people and communities progress.

Throughout this year, I have seen the rewards of what happens when strong-willed, creative people come together, combine resources, and commit to a single, worthy goal. All of the people involved in the production of Sonder have demonstrated what the power of storytelling really is and how it impacts the community. We increase awareness of the lives around us when we take the time to read stories about people and the things they go through. It makes us think about our lives and what we want to do with them and forces us to look at things from a new point of view, comparing who we are to who we want to be.