First experiences

First experiences are always special and worth remembering. Can this be a year of something you do for the first time?

The first time I got published was when I was 15 years old. It was a short story, which I had hand written and posted to a magazine (I know, I sound ancient!).

I hadn't told anyone that I had written something and submitted it for publication. Every Friday, I would open that magazine to see if my story had made it in, and yes, one day it did. And then I showed it to my mother, who was over the moon!

The news spread like wildfire in the family. Multiple copies of the magazine were bought and proudly displayed like trophies around the house.

This was the pre-social media era, so being published in a national magazine was a big deal!

My teachers were proud, my family was impressed and I was just stunned. It was my first moment of glory.

Though life has taken many different directions since then, writing has always remained my first true love. That first publication validated my talent and allowed me to dream of making a career out of it.

And that dream materialized - I got my dream job. I became a published writer.

First experiences are always special. Think about your

• First job

• First salary

• First car

They must be smaller in value compared to what you have or earn today, but their impact was the biggest.

Can this be a year of something you do for the first time?

---

Fun Fact: The title of my story was ‘My Real Mother’ - a story about a teenage girl who discovers that the woman who raised her is not her biological mother.

To date, my biggest fan and cheerleader is my mother who keeps reminding me that this is what you are meant to do.