The first ever Writer’s Day is December 1, and the student performers are getting ready to perform their original pieces.

Seniors Paige Savarese, Amanda Fiddler, and Ian Noronha, juniors Megan Groeller and Tatiana Garcia, are five of the student writers who are performing an original poem.

Q: What are your thoughts about Writer’s Day?
Savarese: I think it’s going to be a really cool opportunity for people to share their writing that there really isn’t an audience for in a high school setting, especially not at our school. I’m glad we’re implementing something like [this]. I hope a lot of people will come to watch and listen.
Fiddler: I think it’s actually really neat that we’re doing this. I’m really excited, but I’m a bit nervous to go up and perform this because it’s not like anything I’m used to performing, but I’m excited to see what other kids in the school have come up with and get into that with them. Usually you are in English class writing essays; you very rarely write poetry and very rarely get to share it. It’s going to be a completely different environment and it’s going to be really neat for the English classes to get to go and see that.
Groeller: I think it’s a cool concept. It could get more people into writing. It’s a cool experience. I wasn’t gonna do it. And then it was the last day, and I thought I should just do it. So I wrote a poem in like 10 minutes and I turned it on. It was a rash decision, but I went for it.
Garcia: I’m so excited I can’t even tell you. When I first heard about it, I think I literally jumped up and down in the library and squealed. Any chance people get to vocally express what they’ve written, it’s amazing to me. When you show someone a poem, they’ll read it, but they won’t read it like you would read it. There is a certain rhythm or beat that  goes to it. It’s kind of like rapping, pausing and going at the right moments. Hearing people read their poems out loud, is like “wow, this is what you meant to be emphasized, this is what you meant to be toned down.” So it’s really cool to see what they meant by what they wrote.

Q: What piece are you performing and what is it about?
Filder: I don’t think I actually gave it a title, but it’s spoken word and I guess it would be something along the lines of like when I was younger or something, or dreams. It stemmed from while I was writing college applications, because I was writing a bunch of essays, but it’s basically me thinking about how, ever since I was younger I’ve changed what I wanted to do with my life. I’ve heard so many different things from different people. I mentioned in the beginning that I wanted to be an archaeologist, but then I was like, ‘no that’s silly, I should be a paleontologist, or an architect, or work for the FBI,’ and I had all of these different dreams, then I heard things from different people and they would be shooting me down telling me, ‘no you’re not smart enough for that,’ or ‘girls don’t do that’ and it was just really upsetting. So now, at the end of the poem, I realized that I want to do something that’s more artistic and people are saying that I’m wasting my intelligence on something that takes no effort. It’s a lot about my life choices.
Garcia: The first half of it is about my love for poetry, and how I feel that it’s a form of expression.  Then it goes on to say that poetry helps me express what it is I want to say. Then I address the student body as a whole. There is even a line that says, “To my dear and loving fellow students.” Then it goes on to say that the world is just, there are so many things that are wrong with the world, and I am not able to fix them all with just the wave of my hand. But we have a war with each other, as citizens. Even though we don’t use shining armor or generals or anything like that, any time there is people that talk about someone behind their back or any time you bully someone, that’s war with each other. I was saying that a lot of diseases are caused by one little thing going wrong, why can’t the world have a disease with one little thing going right, and that just sets this chain of events that just makes the world better, if we can all just come together.

Q: What other experiences have you had involving being on stage?
Savarese: I’ve [been told that] most of elementary school I was the only person who sang by herself so in kindergarten I sang “You are my Sunshine” and my dad played guitar. Then, for every year throughout elementary, I would sing with my family. My dad would usually play piano or guitar and I’d sing. Then I got involved with plays and musicals in middle school. I thought I really liked music and acting but I just like to sing. I don’t really like acting. I like presentations and I like being in front of people because I see it as a challenge like, ‘well, how well can I articulate how I feel and can I be eloquent in front of people and nervous about how people are going to receive what I’m saying?’ I’ve always gravitated towards being in front of people.

Q: How do you feel about the piece that you wrote?
Fidler: I’m excited for it, but I know it’s going to make me vulnerable. I feel like it’s very interesting for me, because most everything in my life I try to keep very vague, just because I don’t want people to know so much about my personal life. If you’re really close to me, then you probably know a lot about me, but if I don’t know you, all of a sudden you know a lot about me and how I feel about things and I think this puts a lot of backstory to things. It puts me out there and makes me feel a bit vulnerable, but I’m really happy with the poem itself.

Q: How are getting the courage to do writer’s day?
Noronha:I have never had much of a trouble with crowds, especially if I am well-rehearsed. I am one of those people who are completely garbage at everything if it is on the spot, but if you give me time to write everything down I can usually handle myself very well.

Q: What is your favorite piece you ever wrote?
Groeller: I wrote right after I took the ACT and the lady was crazy. It’s called “Dear The Crazy Lady” It’s just me yelling at her. It was so fun.

Q: Why is poetry your favorite style of writing?
Garcia: I just prefer when it comes to poetry, you can get your point across so much more because it’s not so formal. You can make it really formal or really Shakespearian but you don’t have to because it is so broad. I guess you could do that with a book, but it has a storyline that you have to follow, whereas poetry comes as close to emotion as you can get when it comes to writing. I feel like I am more clever when I write poetry. I can make jokes, and make it to a rhythm where it’s funny. I think I’m funny.