|
|
 |
Young writers earn place in book
By Amanda Parry, Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, PA - Dec., 2000
When he
was a student at Lebanon Catholic High School, T.K. Broderic had an
English assignment due and a college essay to write, so he decided to kill two
birds with one stone.
He penned an essay about the person who'd had the
greatest effect on his life, then gave it to his mother, an English teacher
herself, to proofread.
His mother, Becky, was surprised by how well
the piece was written and touched by the subject.
Broderic chose his
father David, who had died from bone cancer when Broderic was 9 years
old.
"He wrote it really quickly and asked me to look at
it," Becky said. "Of course, they want you to say it is really good
and not find any mistakes. But I was really very impressed, and of course the
subject matter got to me."
And Becky wasn't the only one who
found the essay impressive.
Broderic's piece and an essay by another
Lebanon Catholic graduate, Amanda Batz, were recently published in
"TeenInk," a book compiled by the Young Authors Foundation, a group
that showcases the work of young people.
Both students submitted their
essays to a literary newspaper run by the organization under the guidance of
their teacher, Patricia Howell, who encourages her students to submit their work
for publication.
"They gain the experience of going through the
submission process," Howell explained. "They gain the confidence of
seeing what their work is worth and what it can mean to other people."
When they learned their work had been published in a magazine, both
teenagers were surprised. When they learned their writing had been selected from
the magazine to appear in the book, they were shocked.
"It's
weird," said Broderic, now a sophomore at St. Joseph's University in
Philadelphia. "My sister was in a bookstore (Border's) the other day and
bought it."
"Seeing your name in print is the weirdest
thing," said Batz, who wrote an essay on the evils of drunk
driving.
Despite the glamor of literary celebrity, the teens agree the
reward of the work was in the writing.
"It was therapeutic,"
Broderic said. "Being 9 years old when he died, there's a lot of stuff I
can't remember. My older brothers and sisters and my mom tell me stories and I
can kind of remember, but writing about it helped."
Broderic's
writing the piece -- in which he touches on maintaining a relationship with his
father and seeking his guidance even though they are not physically together --
helped him in a transitional time: moving out on his own and going to
college.
For Batz, now a sophomore at Lycoming College in Williamsport,
writing about drunk driving was not so much an introspective experience as much
as it was an opportunity to say something she wanted people to
hear.
"I was in a really bad mood that day," she said.
"Even though it (drunk driving) doesn't affect me, it affects a lot of other
people."
Batz said she is pleased that her work has been able to
reach people.
"A lot of people at college come up to me and say,
'Wow, I'll definitely think twice before drinking and driving,' Batz
said.
Despite their published pieces, neither student seems interested in
pursuing a career in writing - Batz is a physics major, and Broderic is studying
pharmaceutical marketing - but both said they will continue to write in their
spare time.
Parry can be reached via email at:
AmandaParry@LDNews.com
|
About the Teen Ink book
|
|
|
|
