Tatiana has applied to attend Syracuse Summer College Creative Writing: Fiction and Poetry this summer and is raising funds for her program fees. Can you help?
Tatiana
Tatiana
Interest:
Liberal Arts
Grade:
10th
School:
Uncommon Charter High School
Location:
Brooklyn, NY
Successfully funded on April 30th, 2016!
Fully funded!
$2,509 raised
$0 to go
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Tatiana
Tatiana's Story

My passion is spoken word and activism.

The ink just scribbling with inspiration across the page nonstop. Page after page after page. White sharp edged college ruled loose leaf paper with hundreds of lines for you to empty your mind. All so fascinating and comforting. I love to write because to me, the paper becomes your waste basket and you can write anything about anything. The reason I write is to clear my mind, release stress, and to find my voice. How can you get through life if you can't speak what's on your mind? If I can't say it out loud, then it is most definitely going on paper, so I can share it later. I remember writing after my basketball games, a few times on the train coming home from my softball games, in all my classes after I finish my work early or sometimes I'll even write on my hand to get my idea across while the teacher is teaching. Every year I hope that my mom buys me a new notebook because I've used all the ones in my room, but she just complains saying that I have millions of notebooks in my closet and there must be one empty one. However, it doesn't count if some of them were used for drawing; I want notebooks to hold my spoken word. In third grade I used to write stories for assignments but I also remember turning in more stories for pleasure because I don't think there was extra credit in third grade. I'd have these long three-page fictional stories with illustrations and perfect grammar and everyone would be like "WOAHHH!" or "WOWW!" Now I just write small poems here and there. For freshman year, I was carrying around a broken binder and broken yellow folders because of the overflowing poems on folded, crumpled, or fine loose leaf. Honestly, I prefer loose leaf over notebooks because the separate pages emphasize each piece. But that's not even the best part. The best part is when you're on stage or in a crowd surrounded by many people or even just a few and you're reading your pieces out loud with emotion because it makes you feel powerful and important knowing that what you have to say is significant. The crowd is clapping and cheering for you and they are left in awe because of how mind blowing your words were. That is how it feels every time I read my pieces aloud. People love it and it is funny because I kind of have stage fright or anxiety when performing and I'm shy. When I'm on stage, however, it's like I'm in my own world; I'm Slim Shady in the studio or Edgar Allan Poe, or Maya Angelou, or William Shakespeare. I'm a poet. I'm a public speaker and preaching, raising awareness, and expression through spoken word is my passion.

While I could spend up to 6 hours of my day writing piece after piece at home, I’d rather have the opportunity to learn and grow as a writer at Syracuse. By attending the Creative Writing Program for Fiction and Poetry at Syracuse, I will be able to edit my spoken word pieces with the guidance of professional writers, who are as passionate about writing as I am in order to keep my writing skills up to par during the summer. I’d also gain more confidence when performing or reading aloud since the program culminates in a public reading which will help me develop a sense of “individual voice." I’m very fond of this program simply because it offers me help that will benefit me as a young writer, performer, and public speaker because it enables me to continue pursuing my dream of becoming a best-selling author, novelist, or well-known poet in the next few years. I know I can’t do it on my own, so I would be delighted to attend Syracuse’s writing workshops which are the small stepping stones that will help me reach my goal.

My obstacle is something I have no control over: being a young woman of color. Growing up, I have faced consistent limitations as to what I’m capable of doing whether it’s because I’m too young, a girl, or a Hispanic person of color. I’ve seen all over the news not so long ago that Eric Garner was a man who died from an asthma attack in the face of police brutality. Police officers held him down despite his yearning for help not only for illegally selling cigarettes but mainly for being a man of color. I desperately wanted to wear the shirt and sweater that said “ I CAN’T BREATHE” out of respect for Eric Garner and to show my sympathy. However, my parents said “NO” when I asked them and explained that because I was only 14, I shouldn’t be involved in any controversy that deals with colorism, racism, et cetera, for the sake of putting myself in harms way. Yet, as a young girl of color myself, no matter what age I am, I know how crucial it is for me to be involved in such controversy since my skin color already puts me in harms way, so not only did I attempt to buy the sweater myself on Amazon, I also made sure that I was part of the events about these issues. On September 26th, there was an event dedicated to Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and other lost lives in which we performed songs, spoken word pieces, dances, all to portray our sorrow and outrage for the recent police brutality that had, and still was going on at the time. I attended and helped create this event at El Puente which happened around 6 p.m. I wouldn’t miss it for the world because my piece “Police Brutality," and later on my pieces “Red Ink” and "More Than My Color" at a school event were recorded to go viral and heard by many, many people. Despite the hardship I continue to face, the prejudice against my darker complexion, Hispanic descent, youth, and gender have motivated me to write and raise awareness in our society and world with hopes that we can change the stereotypes and limitations of young women like myself and in general.

Faith
A Note from Ms. Reaves, Tatiana's Teacher

I have had the pleasure of serving as both Tatiana's English teacher and her spoken word advisor. As her teacher, I could see her potential dripping off of every page, but it was as her spoken word advisory that I truly saw her creativity explode. Tatiana is a force to behold. She is passionate, fiery, and has a wonderful way with words that causes her listeners to think.

Tatiana's talent is evident, but she has yet to receive formal development regarding her fiction and poetry. She has always been very responsive to feedback, so I can only imagine how much she would take from this kind of experience. She is hungry and would be so grateful for the opportunity to hone a craft she is already so passionate about

Campaign Activity
Success! Ms. Reaves helped Tatiana raise $2,509
April 30
Jarrod Schaeffer donated $125
April 30

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $119

Faith Reaves donated $50
April 30

Sharpen that saw, rockstar. You are so loved.

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $50

Evan Stone donated $25
April 30

Good luck! I hope it is a great experience.

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $25

richard freimuth donated $200
April 30

you come well recommended!

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $200

Chris and Bob Laux donated $100
April 29

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $100

Dave & Lois Hiskey donated $100
April 28

You have a exciting future ahead of you, keep writing your story!

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $100

Anonymous donated $100
April 28

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $100

Kevin Longrie donated $25
April 28

If Ms. Laux believes in you, so do I.

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with $25

Syracuse University
Syracuse University donated $666
April 25
Student Contribution donated $199
April 25
Uncommon Summer 2016 Campaign donated $100
April 25

An Anonymous Donor matched this donation with

Faith
Ms. Reaves started this campaign
April 25
Tatiana
Tatiana was accepted into Wishbone!
January 29