I think Teen Ink is a wonderful magazine. It gives kids like me a chance to get their work out in the world and share it with other teens from around the world. And although it is a great outlet for creativity, I think that a simple change in submission options would give contributors an entirely new realm of expression to work with. As the Teen Ink is now, submissions are made as either photos or as written articles, but there is no option to submit both together. When you turn in a photograph or piece of art, the only option for accompanying writing is a brief description. Likewise, when you submit an article, you must choose from a preselected group of images that may have little or no relation to the article you’ve written.

But what if you are a writer, like myself, who often gets inspiration from personal experiences. It would be great to be able write an article about a personal experience and then submit my own accompanying image to go along with that article.
It is my suggestion to incorporate an option to select your own image to go along with an article in order to expand Teen Ink’s possibilities as a creative outlet.