Writing
Two years ago I stumbled upon an old stack of homework assignments from early elementary school. One paper which really struck me was a drawing of "My Dream Job" which was a writer (illustrated by a poorly drawn stick figure holding a pencil). In the stack I also found a collection of stories and cartoon strips which ranged from wannabe X-Men fan fiction to diverse characters being put in ridiculous shenanigans. As I reflected over these pages I couldn't help but ask: when did I stop writing, or more importantly why? Some self reflection later - and perhaps a glass of wine or two - I remembered my first days of school when I moved to Texas, memories which I have not thought about for years. When I first started 4th grade, I was asked if was an alien who swam the border and was mocked for my poor grammar. I actually loved Aliens and was flattered people thought I could swim to Texas considering I was actually born in Norway, my mother would later explain what my peers really meant by those comments but what really hurt me was people telling me how terrible my writing was. Writing brought was one of the greatest sources of joy for me, and that bullying crushed me and caused me to retract socially and creatively. Fortunately I would later meet a history teacher who would introduce me to acting, but my writing died with the birth of feeling ashamed for my lack of proficiency with the rules of English. Since then, theatre has brought me nothing but friends and positive memories, and my English has also improved - granted, I had to double check to see if the "then" at the beginning of this sentence was the correct one... but hey, I'm getting better.
I journeyed back into writing during the 2016 election as a creative outlet for the anxieties my Latino community was facing. I channeled many stories from my peers, as well as my childhood memories of learning the meaning of the word "alien;" "wetback," and "border jumper," into a play about an undocumented father and his daughter before and after the election (June 2016-June 1017). I submitted the play to the Heermans McCalmon Contest prior to the election results and was delighted to have won the contest and had a staged reading in February 2017. I was not delighted to see how many of the events in the play which my community feared about turned to be a reality in 2017. However, I learned many powerful lessons upon writing that play such as the power of representation, the difference between political theatre which dictates what is right and wrong and theatre that simply presents a story and allows the audience to have their own conversations about right and wrong, and most importantly how much I love to write.
Since then, I have written my first full length play, They Matter, a play about a Latino family trying to keep themselves from falling apart after oldest child is killed by a police officer. My screenplay, Triggered, a script following a male victim of sexual assault's hospital visit, also won Third place in the Heermans McCalmon Contest in the Screenwriting Category. If you would like a copy of any of my scripts please feel free to send me an email on the contact page.