Foreword for Box Full of Fears

    This writing project has been one of the easier ones for me. I think it was easy for all the creativity to flow out because it was from the heart and something we all go through. Everyone has to grow up at some point (as much as I wish I could go back). Its time for a change. The season of growing up is among us whether we like it, or not.

I think one of the harder things about doing this project was deciding on a topic. There's so much that we can all agree that we're going through at this time. But although there are many positive things going on, there can also be some negative. Like, losing friends/ boyfriends, going to new school etc. But something I realized by making a list of fears is that there's a lot to be worried about. Not to sound pessimistic because I do believe there is a light at the end of this long tunnel, it just takes a while to see it.

 I came up with the title Box Full of Fears because maybe if I wrote down all the fears I've ever felt down from the times I can remember until the moment my writing utensil hits the paper in a box, the box would fill up. But, as I got older the box would have to get smaller and smaller until there was only one fear left.

Box Full of Fears: What If?

What if I never get my braces off?
What if I get huge zits?
What if I'm a loser in high school ?
What of o remain a small guppy in an ocean of great whites?

What if I fail?
What if no one believes in own keys to success?
What if I decide to give up on me?
What if my best isn't good enough?

What if I succeed?
What I all the dreams I have for myself come true?
What if my mom is proud of me?
What if I'm happy?


All I can ask is

What if?

Box Full of Fears: Diary Entry

Dear Diary,

It happened again. I had the same nightmare. It’s been the same nightmare for three nights straight.

I’m in a city, a city that I’ve never been to before. Everyone is a stranger. I’m surrounded by hundreds of thousand of clouded faces. I feel cold, afraid and alone. I try to yell out for help but no hear my plea. I was alone in the city of clouded faces. No one acknowledged my plea. It was like being in a sound proof bubble- shut in from the outer world. I was afraid of being in a new place where no one could help me. I was afraid of the thought of being forever trapped inside the bubble. I learned something from this nightmare- I need the confidence to be on my own. Help?

Sincerely,

  Kamillah

Box Full of Fears: Writing Prompt What am I afraid of?? (list)

.I'm afraid of into a life that I didn't want for myself.- I feel like I've been really lucky to be presented with numerous opportunities that could set a future that I really want for myself. I just wouldn't want to do something reckless that could jeopardize my future.


. I'm afraid I won't be able to balance everything that I have going on in my life- It's already a balancing act between School, Friend, Home a Social Life and importantly, yourself. It's easy to let everything get out of control but I wouldn't be happy that way.


- Sometimes I think I forget that I'm important too- I find myself constantly being pulled in various directions and I forget the things I do to make me happy.

Reading Response

      As an adolescent girl who is growing into a mature teenager, I'm sure girls like me can agree that we change a lot, from when we're transitioning from middle school into high school. We change how we interact with others our clothing etc. But most improtantly, we change how we voice ourselves to others. The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is an example of that. Mel is a teenage girl who was raped when she went to a party with her friends. She didn't tell anyone up until a year later. This shows me that in time, no matter how difficult of a time you are going/ went through it's important to speak up.

     In the beginng of the book, Mel really kept to herself in entering highschool. She didnt talk to any of her old friends because they hated her for calling the cops at the party last summer. The only gorl who really talked to her was Heather. Heather was new in town and needed someone to show her the ropes, and she needed Mel. When Heather tried to introduce Mel to her other new friends they all turned away. I think Mel really should've spole up and developed her voice again. This is from the book: " You're the one who got my brother fired. You Bitch"  She pulled my hair when I sat in the bleacher in front of her. I didn't say anything. I was on mute.

      Towards the middle of the book, Mel still wasn't talking only it seems that her vow of silence made everything else worse for the world. She remained non talkative with anyone besides Heather. She never really showed any kind of emotion was when she was doing art. She showed passion and admirance to displaying how she saw things in life on paper with assistance from a pencil. But she finally started to ask herself: "Was I raped?" That moment in the book, was her 'aha' moment almost because she was finally being honest enough with herself to realizee that she was raped and she needed to speak up and tell someone.

My favorite part of the book is the ending. She realizes that she has to get the message out that she was raped but in her own way. So she used the power of her words. She realized that her ex- bestfriend began to date the same guy who raped her, but her bestfriend didn't believe her so she wrote about him along the bathroom walls. Mel says, "It felt good to know that I wasn't alone". By the end of the book, everyone knows that Mel was raped because her rapist tried to raped her again in the janitor's closet; luckily someone was there to hear her voice.

As you can see, it's very important to SPEAK your mind out loud so that your voice is heard. When your voice isnt heard when you need to speak your mind you may lose you voice until  yourconfident enough to bring it back up again.