I have a big sign on my refrigerator, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Eleanor Roosevelt. The project yesterday was hosting a Zoom meeting. It went really well. I was fortunate to receive a grant from LAMBDA LITERARY.ORG to host an author who wrote a book dealing with LGBTQ issues. Our high school was very fortunate to read Kiss Number 8 and meet Colleen Venable. Our students read the book and even created some delicious burritos to complement the cheese fries and the role of “comfort foods” in the book.
Even over Zoom, Ms. Venable’s exciting and friendly personality shown through. She invited the students into her home, shared some secrets of the profession and encouraged our students to keep working. Colleen admitted she submitted 31 books before she finally got published.
She reminded the students to be humble, you can always get better.
Ms. Venable also told the students her secret to becoming a writer: “you work hard.”
Her secret to becoming a cartoonist, “just keep drawing.”
“Push self doubts back, ask yourself what do I enjoy, and if you do what you enjoy you will get good at it.”
This is so important in today’s world. As we stay home and are left with hours to explore the web, look for webinars for what you enjoy and find the time to practice. Take time to draw a cartoon, or paint, or code.
essentialschoollibrarian 