“Self Portrait” by Katie McDowell (18), New Orleans Center for Creative Arts "An Old Man in Military Costume" by Simone Wuttke (18), Dartmouth College (recent Benjamin Franklin High School graduate) "This oil on canvas painting is inspired by Rembrandt's 'An Old...
Who says that I can only fit into 14 lines?
Who says that I can’t create my own designs?
The world tells me to choose just one thing
While I, just a girl, want to be a human being
My sorrows tower over me like a hurricane
While a little voice inside me dreams of things I’ll never attain
My overwhelming passion grows day by day
Whilst I sit and write a poem as if it’s child’s play
Reading, writing, analyzing, when do I stop?
Going around the world as if I am a prop
Stuck in this form that only gets in the way
When the truth is the only thing I’m trying to display
As you read this, you may think, What is wrong with this girl?
I’m just a kid who’s trying to make it through this wretched world.
Chloe Dorsey is 14 years old and in eighth grade at The Willow School. She has been dancing all her life—this will be her 12th consecutive year dancing. At one point, Chloe thought that she was put on this world to dance, but then she took her first creative writing class and felt her perspective shift. Now she expresses herself through many different creative outlets, and she is so happy to be a part of something that influences and encourages other girls like her to do the same. Chloe believes that if you continue to have an open mind while learning, you will eventually find out who you are and what you want to be in life.