My Story
Graham, Gennella (2010-11-19)
>>GENELLA GRAHAM: My name is Genella Graham and I am affiliated with the University of Mississippi Writing Project. I would like to share with you my earliest memory of a writing experience. I guess I was in high school and my grandfather had passed away when I was nine years old. In high school I was enrolled in this class that dealt with Mississippi writers and also it dealt with short stories. Up until that point I didn't really think I was good at anything. My friends excelled in math and science; they all knew what they wanted to go to college for. I really didn't because I didn't feel that I was really good at anything. But I did enjoy writing poetry, stories, different things of that nature that I really didn't think that was a talent or anything that you could really make money doing. 
>>GENELLA GRAHAM: But anyway, like I said I took this class in high school, Mississippi Writers, and one assignment that we had after reading some novels from different Mississippi authors, was to write a poem of our own about anyone. So I wrote a poem about my grandfather who had passed away when I was nine years old. Anyway, I really didn't know what I wanted to write about but I remembered waking up early that morning, and I had dreamed about him. I just started writing words on paper. To me, it just flowed so well so I wrote the words. I think maybe I looked over it once and then I turned it in that day. Well, to make a long story short, at the end of the year I saw my name on a list to go to an academics awards banquet. I didn't know we had them. 
[Laughs]
>>GENELLA GRAHAM: I didn't know we had academic awards. I mean, I don't feel like I was dumb or anything in high school but I never attended. So anyway, the year my name was on the list, I was like "Okay, I am going to this awards program." I went, my grandmother was there, my mother was there and my sister. I remember, we all just sat there, you know, not really knowing what to expect and the award was announced for Mississippi Writers and the teacher called out my name. I was like "Oh my gosh! I won an award for that!" So I went to accept my award and I remember the councilor telling me "Stay there for a minute, we are not finished with you." I was like "Really?" So, I sat down and he called my name again for the short story award also. I was so excited; that changed my life because at that point I realized I was actually good at something, and it was writing.
>>GENELLA GRAHAM: I decided my senior year of high school to major in English. I went to Mississippi State University, graduated, went on to Ole Miss to receive my masters degree, and I am a seventh grade English teacher now. I really have to say that the impact of winning those awards in high school really influenced me to become the person that I am today. You know, if I could say anything to anyone it is that you always have a gift; it is just a matter of you nurturing it and allowing yourself to feel free enough to express whoever you are, whatever you want to do, because anything in life is possible. I am proud to say today that I am a writer.