Writers block sends even the most brilliant students tumbling into an abyss sans inspiration.

I, however, never considered myself brilliant, or a writer, for that matter. What I am is a reflector, an analyzer, a thinker.

As I sit here with a cup of tea and bruised fingers from an overly tight grip on my pen, I desperately search through 17 years of my life, brainstorming ideas for my college essay. I have been taught to analyze the works of Shakespeare and Dickinson, but never myself–the author of my own life. My inexperienced mind aches as my inexperienced hand is unable to direct the ink into precise positions, reflecting the little storm in my brain. It’s frustrating, to say the least.