Heather Gilmer's Blogs

“So, why writing?” This is a question I’ve gotten a lot over the years. People are curious about what led one to pursue a specific hobby, degree, or profession. There’s always a story behind it, yearning to be told. As a writer, I live for the details, the storytelling. So, here’s the story of a young girl who developed her passion and talent for writing.

I believe it all started when I was in fourth grade. One day, my class was assigned to write a short story. As a major dog lover, I chose to write a fictional mystery story about a missing dog. In this story, a few of my friends and I sought to find this dog, picking up clues, such as its’ collar along the way. When we finally found the dog, she had given birth to a litter of puppies, and we each got to keep one! To this day, I’m amazed that I can recall the plot so vividly, but if you were to ask what the dogs’ name was, I couldn’t tell you. My entire class adored this story. Even my teacher loved it enough to send it to the principal, which was a huge deal considering that the teacher had a very strict demeanor and wasn’t the easiest to please.

I was around eleven when I received my first diary. It had my name embedded on its cover and a small lock with a key. From this moment on, writing became a form of therapy to me, an escape from reality. There’s just something undeniably peaceful about writing your daily thoughts on paper, especially with those fuzzy pens every girl had in the early 2000’s. I even wrote about my teenage drama with friends and crushes in journals that were meant for school. Thankfully, I never got in trouble with my teachers for this, but I sure learned to never leave those journals unattended!

Back when I was growing up, my state had what was called the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning). These standardized tests were designed to show how the student was progressing in the areas of math, reading, writing, and science. I shudder as I remember those weeks of torture. The number #2 pencils, thick booklets, testing divider boards, minimum breaks, endless hand cramps, and complete silence. Pure joy when it was finally over!  

I never excelled on the math or science portions of the test. My reading comprehension was only average. But with writing, I continuously scored high above the standard rate of passing. One of my most cherished memories is when I was entering 8^th grade and took the WASL the year before. My parents and I went to the school to pick up some forms from my block/Language Arts teacher. We could tell by the way she was grinning ear-to-ear that she had some good news to share. “Guess what?!”, she excitedly tells me. “You passed the writing WASL way over the top; two whole levels above average!” and proceeded to do her happy dance. My parents and I were so shocked, yet so thrilled to learn of this accomplishment. Later that year, my school had an assembly to honor those who did exceptionally well on the WASL. When my name was called, I walked down the bleachers to receive my award, overcome by the roaring sound of applause. It was this moment that truly inspired me to embrace my talent and keep on writing.

In high school, I dedicated several of my electives to writing classes and entered my work into two writing contests at the National Institution for the Deaf (didn’t win, but it was still a cool experience!). My senior year, I was the Copy Editor for my school’s yearbook for a semester and then went on to produce articles for my school’s newspaper. Fellow classmates recognized my strength in writing and often came to me for support with their essays. I always took pride in being their personal editor.

You’d think by the time I graduated high school that I would’ve had it all figured out, but that’s far from the truth. I considered multiple career paths while attending community college. Being a teacher, veterinarian, and counselor all sounded very appealing. But the more writing classes I took, the more I realized that none of these other options had the same effect as being a writer/editor did. Given my challenges, it was the one role I felt the most confident I could do with ease. And what would be better than turning this passion into a career? So, I took the first step and applied for the B.A. English: Professional and Creative Writing program at CWU, which I successfully earned in 2018.

Despite having a degree in hand, I was struggling to find a job with my lack of real-world work experience. But one day during the Covid pandemic, I received a message from a recruiter on LinkedIn that changed everything for me. She had an internship opportunity as a Comedy Content Writer at a remote start-up company specializing in helping people find their purpose-filled careers. I went through the interview process and got hired on the spot. I was over-the-moon ecstatic, dancing around my kitchen. Finally, I would be gaining some work experience to polish my resume. Little did I know that this company did not only see great potential in my writing but also in my leadership ability. I ended up being promoted three times in the two years with them. Writing and editing content (including blogs, website copy, and social media posts), pitching campaign ideas, participating in our Docuseries, and training teammates were some of my favorite activities of my time working here.

Writing has allowed me to express myself in a way nothing else ever could. It helped me through some of the hardest moments of my life, like when my grandpa died, I wrote a lengthy poem to alleviate some of that grief. Every day, my creativity continues to soar. As writing is an ever-changing skill, I’m always seeking new ways to improve. Surely, I’ve come a long way since that story I wrote in fourth grade. I know this because when I look back at my old “masterpieces”, I often find myself laughing and cringing. Every bit of encouragement and feedback has gradually made me into the writer I am today. I hope to keep growing and sharing my stories with the world!