Today's guest blogger is a special young woman with big dreams! I hope you enjoy the interview I did with her and are inspired to never give up on your own dreams!
My name is Sarah J. Browne, and I am an aspiring author, artist and activist. My passion is to write a young adult fiction novel which will impact others with its life lessons and wisdom. Overall, I believe in standing up for rights so I am an activist and keep up with politics when I can. Yet, at the end of the day, my credentials do not define who I am. Who I am is this: I value the simple things in life. The rest can float away, and I will be fine. In fact, from loss or failure, we find what keeps us going and therefore what matters. Resiliency is something I have studied, and in the future want to help others to achieve this worthwhile attribute.
1) Have you always been into the arts as a young child?
Yes! I was and am much more artsy than anything else; however, now I've been venturing into outdoorsy activities. When I was a kid especially I loved to draw all the time. I would make up stories. This developed into writing the story to go along with the pictures. I did not realize it but I was developing a fascination with storytelling through art and literature. Other than this, I love acting and being in front of an audience. Poetry was my first real test of self expression. The first poem I ever wrote was for my grandpa who had just passed away. I learned from that experience how to use writing or art to create meaning from an experience. This has been an important factor that has gone into my writing now.
2) You are writing a book about helping teens deal with certain issues in their life. How did that idea come about/why is that something you want to write about?
When I was thirteen or fourteen years old, I was sitting in my Creative Writing class thinking about a future career. I was more specifically thinking about "purpose." I did not want my future job to be something meaningless. Since teenage years are difficult, I realized that I wanted to tell a story about teens for teens. It was a moment epiphany; however, as I began to really write, I realized that I was writing about myself and through my story, I could use wisdom and lessons to help teenagers. I continually expanded on this as I grew into an adult. Essentially, I have been writing my book since 13 to age 22. Now, I am just putting it together. I have over 300 pages so it is now tailoring a final product. This is very unique because not everyone makes one book their own venture, dream or masterpiece. Mine has helped me to realize what is important in life. While I write, I have in the back of my mind a lesson to share. Therefore, in each circumstance, I have found a way to articulate meaning. My book is fiction though not my life. In order to put in everything I've learned, I've had to condense the years, the lessons and create a whole new character named Synasia. That is all I will reveal for now.
3) What/who are some of your inspirations and why do those things/people mean so much to you?
Immaculee Ilibagiza influenced me as a teenager to forgive others, to find spirituality and caused me to develop an interest in human rights as well as genocide studies or social justice. I wrote about her charity Left to Tell Foundation for Service Internships, and she tweeted to me directly and thanked me. This was a pivotal moment because it was nice to be recognized by someone who means so much.
Emmanuel Jal is a former child soldier. When I was a freshman in college at Slippery Rock University, I saw a video of him singing at an Amnesty International conference. I wrote down his name, and I contacted his manager to have him perform at SRU on behalf of the club I represented, Amnesty International. It turned out that the Dance Department had already contacted him because he is a hip hop artists now, and they wanted him to perform. It was very serendipitous which has been something I've noticed happens to me a lot. :-) We ended up co-sponsoring the event, and meeting him was very impactful. Later, I began an organization called Global Literacy Outreach, and we worked to fund raise for his organization, Gua Africa. I continue relations with them now.
Josie Badger is former Miss Wheelchair America, but first and foremost, she is a great and inspirational friend. I met her through working with Pennsylvania Youth Leadership network in which we empowered youth with disabilities. She gave me the opportunity to help at conferences, facilitate workshops, give a speech on "Person First Language" and to listen to stories of resiliency. I learned the true value of testimonial speeches, which I want to help others use their unique stories for someday. She continues to advocate for people with disabilities and showed me how to from a disability rights perspective.
My grandpa taught himself to read in the army, and he was someone very silly and loving. Although only around for seven years of my life, I love things that remind me of him such as old movies, vintage and reading books. :-)
4) When you're not writing, what are some of your other hobbies?
I model on the side. My portfolio is at http://sarahjbrowne.see.me/ so check it out! Beyond modeling, I am interested in film and activism. I value equality and justice. I also value learning. I am interested in science, specifically learning about the 6th dimension in physics, near death experiences and child prodigies or those who thrive in an area. TED Talks are the best. Reading and hiking are my other hobbies. With friends, I like to play video games or go out an do fun activities. I also collect comics by Joss Whedon such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I feel like I'm one of those people whose interests are everywhere and who cannot be put into a box. That is my number one goal: to never let myself be put in one. All of these hobbies are things that could become career options. Therefore, sometimes my professional and personal pursuits are the same, but I always know how to value the simple things and just enjoy life. I love the water and grew up jet skiing. There's so much I'd like to learn, I'd even consider fishing. As a girl, I grew up really focused on dance and performance type of interests if I wasn't doing my art. I'm trying to break any gender boundaries I can and try it all. For example, I used to have terrible aim, but I'm getting better at tossing a baseball.
5) Place yourself 10 years from now, how do you see your life?
My young adult literature fiction novel will have been published, and my writing and modeling will somehow give me a platform to create influence in terms of social good. I want to travel, have financial stability and to be an entrepreneur or actress to some extent. I will always find projects. What I most want however is to be happy. Hard work pays off. Struggle pays off. Gain creates opportunities. However, happiness is both the easiest and most difficult achievement. We can decide to be happy at any time, and yet we must remember to maintain ambitions and values that make us happy. It is easy to push oneself or to try to obtain things that do not matter simply because our culture does. The joy of the moment is the greatest achievement so to live in the present always is my greatest dream. From that, I will create what I can and motivate who I can.
6) What advice would you give other people who are wanting to become a writer/model/actor, ect...?
You will be remembered for your values, not your net worth, achievements or things. So long as you are passionate about something, nothing should stop you from doing it. Therefore, what you achieve from it should be secondary. If you must follow an unconventional path or quit anything to get there, have faith and courage to do so. Never stay in something that makes you unhappy because tomorrow is not promised. You only have today to make your dreams come alive. Live your dreams, the recognition will come. Living your dreams simply comes from doing, not from achieving. What others recognize does not always equate what is right or worthwhile. The greatest dreamers are sometimes the most unrecognized so your number one goal is to be your biggest fan. See who you can be, not just who you are and appreciate how far you have come. Then, you will have "made" it.
Here are some of Sarah's Websites for you to check out:
**Blogger is not working correctly for me, so I apologize if you are seeing this post and it's spread out a bit odd. I tried fixing the post and it just wouldn't work. Hopefully I can fix it soon!
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