A Lifelong Love of Words
Ljubica, The International School of Belgrade, Grade 10
My first introduction to words was no different than most other kids - I used to beg my parents to read me bedtime stories.
More often than not, the stories would not lull me to sleep but keep me awake and asking questions. Unfortunately, it was not the same for my parents, who were desperate to get some sleep themselves! One evening, my mom, after being asked to read Snow White for the 5th time that day, suggested “How about you learn to read yourself?”. I decided to do so, and was soon able to recognize most letters. I was two and a half years old then, and my love for words is yet to cease.
It does not matter if it is writing (I have written over 200 pages of poems, a couple 50+ pages long stories and numerous short stories), speaking (8 years of competing at the national recital competition, a first and a third place on Speech and Debate competitions in the past two years) or doing theatre and film (5 school plays, 4 film scripts of various lengths, as well as a 40-minute long radio drama as my Personal Project), I love it all.
I believe that words are the strongest weapon and the most important tool for bringing change and creating art, and I love recognizing the impact words have in all areas of life.
Perhaps overly theatrically, I do tend to say that I am a person made up of words, but this is something I believe to be true - I could not live without writing and talking, sometimes even at the suffering of those around me!
Recently, I created a short film that won an award for the best script at the National KIDIKEM Film Festival.
Some of the footage for the film was actually filmed as a part of a design class project, and I was beyond happy to have ISB featuring in my project. I am incredibly happy to have guidance and support from people at school, and know that if I ever need help, I have help and support from everyone around me. Please take a look at my award winning short film. I am very proud of it!