AN INCIDENT THAT CHANGED LIFE!

           

             I would like to throw light upon an incident, not a big moment, perhaps. Yet small moments sometimes last a very long time. And a few words though they mean a little at that time to people who say them, can have enormous power. "This is good writing". Words like that can echo.

             As an eighth grader, I was terribly insecure and an introvert. I had few friends and no self-confidence. Then one day in October 2008, my high school teacher, Mrs. Edwina Moses, gave the class a test on writing-skills. The students had to write an essay on ‘'All that glitters is not gold'’.

             I wrote my essay and turned it in. Today, I cannot recall anything special about that essay I wrote and what marks Mrs. Mosses gave me. What I remember, what I will never forget, are the four words Mrs. Moses wrote in the margin of the paper: ‘THIS IS GOOD WRITING’!

             FOUR WORDS. THEY CHANGED MY LIFE!

             Until I read those words, I had no idea of who I was or what was I going to be. After reading her note, I went home and wrote a short story, something which I dreamed of doing but never believed I could do.

             Over the remaining years in school, I wrote many articles and always brought them to school for Mrs. Moses to evaluate. She was very exactin but very honest and very encouraging. She was just what I needed.

             Later, I started writing for The Hitavada's Twinkle Star, and other magazines and emerged victorious in many essay-writing contests. My confidence grew, my horizons broadened. And I started on a life of fulfillment.

                          My teacher had cast an incredibly long shadow!