By JONAH STAFFORD
Staff Writer
Sophia Williams just recently finished her eighth-grade year at NRHEG Secondary School, but is already making her mark as a published writer. Williams’ work has been featured in the South Central Service Co-operative’s anthologies across the past few years, with six stories published altogether.
“I attended the SCSC Young Writers and Artists Conference every year from third to fifth grade, and right when lockdown started, I mustered up the courage to enter the contest for the first time,” said Williams.
While she’s received recognition as a writer, Williams said that her love for writing came hand in hand with reading. “Learning to read and write was a pivotal point in my life because it meant that I could read whenever and wherever I wanted,” said Williams. Her enjoyment of the stories she read later inspired her when she began writing her own.
Williams has also received a lot of encouragement and support from her teachers at NRHEG over the years. One important figure in her development as a writer was her first-grade teacher Mrs. Boran, who gave the class time to write and illustrate their own stories almost every day after lunch. “That’s how I realized writing is equally as fun as reading,” said Williams. She also said she is “endlessly thankful” for the support she’s received from other teachers including Mrs. Williams, Mr. Strina, and “especially Mr. Domeier.” Williams was recently inducted into Domeier’s “Writers of the Round Table,” a bulletin board that recognizes the best writers who have been in his class over the years.
Williams is a member of NRHEG’s band and choir programs, in addition to taking part in dance outside of school. Besides writing stories and poetry, she considers songwriting her favorite hobby. “If the world revolved on my axis, I would compose music for a living,” she said.