First off, we’d like to say thank you to everyone who entered our first writing contest. From the submissions sent in, we picked two winners and here are their entries. If you didn’t get a chance to enter this year, we will have more opportunities for you to have your writing featured in the coming school year.

Tyranny is Purple, by Chidinma Uzowihe, 9

Tyranny is purple

The capes of kings leaving destruction behind them

You in your house wondering what aggravated them

The flowers on the ground poking up

Realizing that nothing will stop

The flowers or the king

Rollercoasters are purple

The waiting in line knowing your turn comes

Going up feeling like it will take forever

Realizing that this may have been a bad idea

At the top when you know you’re going to fall

Nothing will stop you

Tyranny and rollercoasters are purple

Nothing will stop them

But they are different shades

Tyranny a royal purple

And rollercoasters a lavender

Both springing up like flowers

A Letter, by Anonymous, 11

A quick letter to those who get anxious when talking to people, who feel embarrassment rush to their cheeks, who dread public speaking, who never really stood out.

Here is a quick letter to the introverts.

It is definitely difficult living in a world that seems against us. We exist in a culture where the flamboyant and extravagant are praised. We are bombarded with lessons and classes and advice that is supposed to make us “stand out” from the crowd and change the world. But to us, it’s all painful. And the sad truth, only someone who is truly like us can honestly understand the feeling.

We were the babies who were quiet and kept to ourselves. Of course we threw fits, but the adults loved us. They knew we could occupy ourselves quietly, we didn’t desire attention like the other children. We were just content. Sadly, being “content” is not an option any more. Being content means you spend 5 out of 6 elementary school years with PE teachers who never learned your name. You hope to think they tried, but realize you weren’t important enough to matter that much. It means you waste away just a little bit more when that friend you had in 3rd grade doesn’t remember all of those fond memories playing with dolls and making up songs. When you begin to grow up, being that good little child means few friends. But before you can understand, you grow into middle school.

Middle school is where the true spectrum of our club emerges. Personally, I made it my goal to step out of my comfort zone. It was during these awkward transitional years that I developed a group of friends, or more accurately, they developed around me. Before I knew it, my nerve-racking conversations and attempts at branching out gave me a small cocoon that still shelters me to this day. It is my greatest fear to lose some of those fantastic friends. I’m afraid of starting over. I’m afraid of having too many people dislike me. I can’t go through the trauma of being bullied and shunned again, but I am lucky. There are others who never got the chances I had and have. For some, just the mere mention of my story is frightening. The fears of failure, of commitment, of having someone know who you truly are become horrible nightmares. Soon a cocoon of friends is replaced with a brick wall. No one allowed in to wreck the homeostasis in which we exist. And society believes that the only way to us is to destroy it with dynamite.

High school is probably the most uncomfortable and comfortable place for an introverted person. Contained within these walls are thousands of other people who can be just like you, or your opposite. To combat this, classes designed to improve our extroverted-ness rip and shred our little shields. We can’t be introverted in society, so we must be changed! We are flung from our comfort zones, trampled by people who already excel at our flaws, and excluded when we can’t keep up. Speeches in class, presentations, group assignments, projects are all monsters that jump-scare us back into our shells of safety. But, of course, even if we don’t like being in front of the class or on stage, we are some of the best actors. Because it is in these moments of utter fear that we plaster a smile on our faces and learn to conceal the shakes and nerves and stutters. “Do it for the grade. Do it to just get out,… to escape.” It is in these moments that we are forced to assimilate.

Now extroverts will likely tell you that the only way to make it big in the world is to be like them, but is that really what we want? And if you call yourself an introvert but desire so wildly for the world to surround you and give you its undivided attention, do you really understand us? Do you really feel the daily inner struggle? Happiness doesn’t come from cracking our shells and gutting us alive. Happiness comes from looking beyond the barrier every once in awhile and finding people who are worth your time. That’s the one thing about those that look inward instead of outward: we understand ourselves. We value our minds and our thoughts to the point where we can stand strong and confident within ourselves. We know who we are, but we are soft and warm, and easily damaged by cruelty. That is why we set up these walls. That is why we are so quiet. Why let words escape that could chink our armor? Why let the embarrassment even be an option?

Because even though it is our instinct to hide, the world isn’t all bad.

A letter to my extroverts,

We introverts are everywhere. You may not even notice it, as we put on our masks to fit into your world, but we are there. We seek refuge in groups that may already be around us, we sit in the back to try to not get noticed, we keep quiet and to ourselves. Sometimes, it’s just easier to be alone than to be excluded. But if you see one of us, please be kind. Be courteous. We may be different from you, we may like different things, and we may not seem worth your time, but recognize that we are still people, that we have names, and that we are internally plagued by an emotion you were born without. Don’t forget about us. And most certainly, don’t count us out.

Behind every great orator is a writer or an editor. Behind every music score is a composer. Behind every sports team is an analyst. Behind every curtain are people making the performance run smoother than ever. Behind everything is an introvert. We hold up the world in selfless devotion. Sometimes it just gets hard when no one knows your name.

-Anonymous

Congratulations once again to our winners and we’ll see you all next year.