Learner Spotlight: Nadia Salinas

Nadia is an iLEAD Exploration learner who is in fifth grade. She and her family believe that independent studying is a gift and a joy! There was a time when Nadia and her family were not experiencing this in their independent study journey. Finding a writing program that worked for Nadia was a challenging process.

There were many days filled with frustration and tears that made Nadia’s mom second guess herself and her ability to teach, but ultimately she was committed to independent studying her children. Through trial and error and perseverance, they discovered the game changer for them was outsourcing a writing class. Finding a writing enrichment program gave Nadia the confidence she needed to become an excellent writer. Now, she enjoys many different genres of writing, but her favorite is creative writing. Nadia says, “I love how I can let my imagination go wherever I want it to go. I like using my imagination to create characters and settings that seem almost real.”

Interview with Nadia:

1. Why didn’t you like writing initially?
Writing used to overwhelm me. I didn’t really understand the writing process. I got discouraged really easily and wanted to give up.

2. What happened to change your feelings?
I started my enrichment program, and my teacher was the BEST writing teacher in the universe. She really encouraged all of the class to be better at writing. She gave us tools that helped us shape our writing. I think it helped me that we got to learn as a class. The group setting motivated me to try my best. I also took a class on Outschool.com based on the writing style of Erin Hunter, my favorite author.

3. What is your favorite style of writing?
My favorite style of writing is creative writing. I love how I can let my imagination go wherever I want it to go. I like using my imagination to create characters and settings that seem almost real.

4. Do you think reading has helped develop your writing?
Reading did help me become a better writer. It helped expand my mental dictionary. Reading showed me the different genres and helped me see what I liked writing about best. I enjoy reading so much that it inspired me to try writing my own stories. I hope kids are reading my work someday!

5. What is your advice for struggling writers?
My advice for struggling writers would be this: do not give up, even when you really would like to. Maybe read a couple of really interesting books about different genres to see what you like best and then maybe create a different story in that genre. Also, writing exercises help me a lot, so maybe try a few. When you are revising and editing your final draft of something, make sure to be positive about it. Even though we can always make a draft better, start by underlining your favorite things about the paper. Maybe try taking a writing class and see if that motivates you. I know that it is frustrating to write things sometime, but always keep trying. When I work on my novel (my current project), I get writer’s block sometimes. It feels like I am looking at a wall. I feel stuck, but I always try really hard to peek over the wall that keeps me from having new ideas. Always try your best, and I know that you will find the inner writer in you! Let your thoughts fly on to paper, and, who knows? Maybe you will learn to love writing as much as I do!