Yesterday, I was given the pleasure to speak with my roommate, fellow scholar, and friend, Jackson Chaplick, who is a freshman attending Western Washington University. On the topic of literacy, I asked him about who his literacy sponsor is, how it affects him, advice to give someone, and so forth. First a little bit of background on Chaplick. He is 19 years old male, hailing from Littleton, Colorado. An impactful moment in Jackson’s life was in his Junior year in high school. A friend of his, Dane, chose to take his own life halfway through his first semester. This was a large influence on Jackson especially when I come to his personal literacy. “Dane is my literary sponsor because, since his passing, the only way to cope and manage my sadness was to write in a journal to escape my own head,” says Jackson. This was the beginning in Chaplicks life to which he didn’t write because he was told too, but because he wanted and needed too. “For my own well being and mental state is one of the few things that I will never be able to forget so this was an important outlet for me to access.” This was a critical point in Chaplick’s life as he had discovered who his literary sponsor was.

Following these questions, I then began to inquire at what age Chaplick began to be passionate/or not passionate about reading/writing. We discussed how as a child he was more a sports and outdoors focused individual yet he did enjoy reading books. Writing just really wasn’t in his daily routine until the passing of his good friend Dane. Chaplick had always been into reading, and so we discussed that fiction was his go-to genre when I came to books. He says, “to be able to put yourself in a situation that can never be, and to experience things that are impossible, is something that writers have no restrictions on, allowing you to experience anything.” This is the reason Chaplick choose to read which is very similar for me as well. I love fiction when I do get the chance to read as it is truly a huge escape.

Lastly, I closed our talk with a question asking Chaplick what advice he would give to someone as they are still discovering who they are as writers and readers. His answer was very clear and to the point stating, “For a writer, I have no idea. For a reader, you just have to find the right book. You will know you found the right one when the words you are reading disappear off the page and you just experience the book as if it were you doing the actions or watching a movie.” To fill in the gaps regarding writing, I think the only way to discover yourself as a writer is to write whenever one gets a chance with as many different types.