I’m officially leaving The Nest on May 30. This was my last year on campus, and it’s actually a lot to take in. This is my very last column, technically. Since I’m supposed to usually give opinions, I’m going to try to do so in this weird form of a goodbye letter.

I wasn’t very confident in my writing. Actually, I’m still not! I love it so much, whether it be in the form of columns or creatively, but I’ve always lacked confidence in my writing. I don’t even read my own columns once they’re published because I cringe over it and think, “I could’ve written that better” or “This is just straight up terrible.” 

I’ve tried to be less harsh on myself when it comes to myself over the years, but unfortunately it’s still an issue. However, I can happily say I have gotten slightly more nice to myself about it. Whether it be a single paragraph or sentence, I’ve come to accept that I can manage to write at least one good thing. If it’s good to me and to other people, then it really is good. That’s enough for me.

I’d like to extend this mindset to everyone else who wants to be a columnist, or a journalist, or a story author, or really anything that requires writing as a main focus in a job. I know it’s corny, but seriously—don’t give up hope. Your writing style does not have to be the same as the greatest literary artists; it’s your style and that’s all that matters. You can use as many em dashes as you want or use the word “and” as much as you want, you can literally do anything with words because it’s your words. 

I may not have been the best columnist—both writing wise and also deadline-wise since I’ve been late on several columns these past few months because senioritis has finally taken over me—but I’d say I did pretty well. As I think on what I’ve written before, there are some things that I no longer agree on or believe in. I like to see that growth. I also just enjoy thinking about how much I’ve grown writing wise, even if I’m not entirely satisfied with it. 

And all that aside, I had a lot of great memories with Wingspan and I’m glad that my friend Lucas convinced me to stay. Even if I didn’t talk to everyone in this class as often as I should have, I still enjoyed being around them and Mr. Higgins was a wonderful teacher; even though I was extremely bad at keeping up with deadlines and notifying him when things were done, he was always patient and easy to work with, and gave me flexibility in my work. He never wanted me or any of his students to feel as though they had to censor their thoughts for the sake of others, and that is an important aspect to a teacher—to encourage people to form their own opinions and express them how they see fit.

Never stop writing. Even if you aren’t liking your style right now, don’t stop. Just like the world around you, your writing will change as you grow as a person. Don’t let a few bad days ruin your perception of writing altogether.