I’m a Badass

"I'm a Badass" is a mini essay that captures my journey with self-doubt and creative expression. Drawing on essential insights from the book "You Are a Badass," I discuss how I've learned to unleash my inner badass by allowing myself to create without limitations.

A few months before graduating from Texas A&M University, I had a conversation with my mom that would determine the next two years of my life. That day, I was trying to decide if I was qualified to make an application for a Master of Arts in Writing (MAW) at Coastal Carolina University. I remember asking her if I was a talented writer, and if I had what it takes. She responded by saying, “if you commit, you will be the best writer there is.”  Since becoming an MAW student, I’ve discovered that the most important part of being a writer is to… Just. Keep. Writing. Every time I return to the page, I get better. Sometimes it can be challenging to pick up the pen again, especially when self-doubt threatens to weigh me down, but I’ve learned that if I trust myself, I can do anything. Committing to the writing process, even when I’m terrified of being good enough, is the best decision I’ve made. As Jen Sincero writes in You Are a Badass, I’ve realized that choosing to have “faith in miracles, and [my]self,” more than my fears, is what motivates me to keep working on projects that make me proud (200). As I reflect on the last two years of graduate school, I’m grateful that I decided to keep writing, and trying, and teaching, even when I felt defeated. My best moments were born from my perseverance in the toughest of times: When I felt depleted after a long day of lecturing and a student said that I inspired them to become a writer. When I kept writing a short novel after a hand injury that made typing nearly impossible (I wrote the most I’ve ever written – 80 pages!!). When I began a project about my grandmother that was incredibly challenging to process, but kept going, and now I have the foundation for a future book. Sincero states it perfectly when she says, “the whole point of deciding is to stop wasting time and to move forward” (199). I’m glad that I didn’t stay stuck in self-doubt but chose to use my time in the Master of Arts in Writing Program wisely. Now I have a body of work that I’m proud of, and most importantly, I’m a better writer, teacher, and person, because of it.