Carson is awarded a Silver Key for her work
By: Morgan Leth
Sophomore student Ana Carson has been writing for as long as she can remember. Entering every competition she can, most times recommended to her by her teachers, she always performs outstandingly. The last competition she entered was the 2022 Scholastic Writing Competition in which she got a silver key. Her award also granted her a $5,000 scholarship to Hastings College, and her poetry was published in a book alongside other students’ work.
“I was stunned when I was told by my teacher that I had placed in the competition and won a scholarship. I was very excited, but I didn’t know that would happen!” admitted Carson.
Carson has always been drawn to writing, starting out as many young children with stories. She liked writing so much, that in 4th grade, she started working on a novel, but as her talents grew, Carson realized she preferred poetry over prose.
“I don’t really have a specific inspiration. I decided one day that I preferred poetry over novel writing, so I talked with my teacher about entering my writing in competitions,” explained Carson.
Carson draws inspiration from her life in much of her writing. The piece she wrote last year that had her placed so highly was a poem about paranoia titled, “My Protector, Paranoia.” She mentioned all of her pieces are generally themed around love. This year she will focus on theming her writing on her experience with first love, and has already started her writing process..
“It can take me any amount of time. Writing a poem could honestly take me anywhere from 3 minutes to 3 months,” said Carson. “There is even a poem I have been working on since the 8th grade, and I keep thinking it is finished, but I just keep adding to it,”
Carson already knows that she wants to enter the 2023 Scholastic Writing Competition again this year, but with multiple pieces instead of one. . She may also try entering more scholarship competitions that pop up throughout the year.
“I don’t know that I would ever take up writing full-time as a career, but I do love writing very much and will always continue to do it though. Even if only as a hobby,” said Carson.
Below is an Exerpt from Anna's Poem “My Protector, Paranoia”
Traffic Lights
Your favorite color is red
Mine is green
Together we make yellow
Green means go
Red means stop
Yellow means slow down
Maybe we should have taken the hint