I wrote my first poem when I was a freshman in high school. It was for the Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Conference, and quite honestly, my greatest motivation was the $250 reward. I never really considered myself an artist, at least not in any other sense than through playing the violin. To my surprise though, writing this poem gave me a sense of fulfillment that I had never felt before. I am not sure if it was because I wrote it (this poem can be found in the image below) the night before it was due at 2 am and I just wanted to get into my warm comfy bed, but either way, it birthed a new passion in me.
This past fall, I attended a club fair, and I found out there was a club called ULV Spokenwordplay at my school. I figured I’d give it a try and pursue my writing that I had previously neglected towards the back of my mind for years. I would always find excuses to get out of writing, I would try to convince myself that I had nothing to write about, that I hadn’t experienced any life altering moments that were worth writing about, anything really to avoid becoming vulnerable on paper.
Now that I look back, I am forever grateful that I took the challenge of joining the slam poetry club and trying out for the competition team.
A couple weeks ago I attended the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) with three other members of the University of La Verne. It was held at the University of Houston with 60 other colleges from all over the country. The atmosphere was just impeccable. There were people from all different identities all coming together through the power of words, and let me tell you, that is something magical. The energy in every room was so thick you could physically feel how it filled you up with courage and joy, and just pure bliss. It was a week full of new faces, a wave of feeling and emotions, and inspiration to being your raw self. It was tough competition for sure, but this experience opened my mind to pursuing my career as a poet.
I don’t know you or your interests, but if there is something you’ve always wanted to try out or pursue, do it! Do it now because you never know to what it may lead to. You could become the next Rupi Kaur, Yo Yo Ma, a Beyonce, or anything you can imagine.
I hope you take these words of advise sunshines, until next time:)