Written by Maris Brail, Summer Springboard alumni

As a kid, I always loved storytelling. I remember asking for notebooks and pens and new books instead of new video games as a kid because for me those things we a million times more interesting than anything I could ever see or do on a screen. I grew up loving words, I learned to type by writing up my stories on Google Drive and took inspiration for my worlds from those that  I experienced through other books. However, once I hit middle school, I felt a disconnect occur between me and language. I no longer spent my free time writing up tales I had dreamed of or reading as many books as I had before. I missed it but for some reason, I just couldn’t find time to work it into my schedule. This continued for around four years, so when making plans for Summer 2019 I decided to set aside some specific time to work on my writing.

I only typed five words into Google “creative writing Yale summer program” and the first website that popped up was Summer Springboard’s. I clicked on it and immediately knew that it would be perfect for me. I would have the opportunity to live pretty independently on one of my favorite college campuses, I would get to meet new people, and most importantly of all, I would have three hours a day for ten days to just work on my writing, and not just doing it actively improving it and learning from my peers and teacher. Needless to say, I signed up and it has been one of the best things that I have done both for myself as a writer and a person.