When I think of overalls, I think back to sitting in my desk in Mrs. Pfleiderer’s third grade class (and yes I STILL remember how to spell her name correctly due to the song I made up to remember it for the test.) Third grade was so simple and doesn’t feel like it was a lifetime ago. I remember coordinating outfits with my best friend Kristin, before she moved to Arizona. Our favorite was when we would both wear our corduroy overalls (mine were white.) I always opted for my black shirt with white and purple stripes to rock underneath my sweet cord overalls.
Third grade was also a time of firsts for me. I remember acting in my first play, “Tilly the Tooth” as Sally. It was here I discovered stage fright and realized I had a major case of it. I sang in a trio for the first (and only) time for a Thanksgiving play. I also discovered how much I enjoyed writing, so much to the point that I asked for extra assignments after school (yes, I was that girl.) I remember writing stories and choosing story ideas from her mustard yellow plastic notecard storage box. My personal favorite story I wrote was, “How a Turtle Got its Shell.”
Not only was I writing short stories in and out of class, I was also journaling and constantly brainstorming ideas. One story I can remember best is, “Betty Bunny.” I wrote this story while watching my mom work out to Richard Simmons’ “Sweating to the Oldies.” This story led to me attending a “Young Author’s Conference” at my elementary school. We each sat in a large circle and read stories out loud to one another. I could barely listen to anyone’s stories because each story ending, meant it was closer to being my turn. My nerves kicked into overdrive as my name was pronounced (incorrectly) by our group leader. As I began reading “Betty Bunny” out loud, I heard everyone in my circle laughing. They thought my story was funny and entertaining, and I felt awesome and instantly knew this is what I wanted to do with my life.
A common trend I have noticed, with “success stories”, is that they always start with, “I knew I wanted to do this since Kindergarten (or other young age reference)” I never really believed this, but today, I am still writing because I love it, and not because I’m forced to. I think our intuition is stronger than we know, especially at a young age. I knew at 9-years-old what I wanted to do, and I’m still working toward making that happen. We really need to give ourselves more credit and actually work (incredibly hard) for our overall passion.
Steal my look today: Overalls (Rue 21 for $5!) BCNU Crop Top: TJ Maxx