The second that Sammy walked into the room, Mrs. Patterson’s heart sunk. Even though someone had tried to conceal it with makeup, there was no mistaking the bruise under her eye and the redness covering her cheek. Mrs. Patterson hadn’t had to make one of these calls before, but there was a first time for…

I know this may be a super cheesy answer, but someone who has greatly influenced my writing is my dad. He claims to be a bad writer, and sure in a technical sense, he doesn’t have a degree that allows him to know exactly where to put a comma or know all the rules of…

Should I be writing a blog post when I’m a little bit weepy and so emotional that a video of a little koala that just wants it’s teddy bear while it’s getting weighed sets me off crying, probably not, but here we are. I’ll read back over later and decide if this particular wave of…

Sammy’s mom always said the same thing when she would climb up into the treehouse to get Sammy. She would look into Sammy’s eyes with her own tear-filled and occasionally purple rimmed ones and promise she would get them out of there; someday, they would be free of him. Sammy used to believe her. She…

I have now lost one of my go-to Two Truths and Lie or Never Have I Ever claim because I have now fractured my nose. Granted, it’s a very small break, and no significant action was required; I still can’t in good conscience say that I have never broken a bone knowing that I technically…

It was a Friday afternoon, on the brink of Spring, and Mrs. Patterson’s first-grade class was particularly antsy today because the sun had finally decided to make an appearance. They sat like wiggly chess pieces on a colorful broad, chatting with each other about their weekend plans. Even little Sammy, who wasn’t really all that…

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in miracles before, I knew they happened. My doubt came when I thought that they could happen to me. And I think this doubt, if we peeled off its mask, was really fear of what it would look like. If God did heal me of my depression and anxiety,…

I’ve gone back and forth on sharing a more personal side to myself and giving my perspective on my battle with depression and anxiety or just keeping that locked away inside away from the rest of the world. Of course, what I want to do is the latter and keep all the ugly out of…

When I was a child, I used to do what I so creatively called “fake reading.” Fake reading entailed me picking up a book, even though I had not yet learned how to read and pretend that I was reading it aloud. I would give my own story to the book, sometimes based off the pictures…

Whether you happen to be my classmate, a friend, my grandma, or someone random reader who has somehow stumbled across this page, welcome! My name is Shelby McCormick, and I am a first-year college student double majoring in History and English and would like to teach high school or college one day. Even though I…