Alexis Torer places first at the Pen Ohio tournament

The Pen Ohio team is a writing club that attends writing tournaments along with hundreds of other students. Aurora’s team is supervised by, English teacher, Conni Hilston. This past week the team had a successful meet when, Junior Alexis Torer came in first place for the varsity team and Sophomore Corissa Slaw also placed third for JV.

For those of you who may not know what Pen Ohio is, in Hilston’s words, “PenOhio is a creative writing tournament consisting of regional and state tournaments. Student from more than fifty high schools in Ohio participate in both JV and Varsity divisions.”

Aurora’s PenOhio team attends around six regional tournaments during February, March and there is one state tournament in May. During these tournaments each team has about three prompts to write to and have forty minutes to do so. To be apart of the team and have a successful tournament, students are required to be skilled and disciplined writers.

When speaking to Hilston about her goals for her students and her future goals, she says, “I hope my students receive a sense of pride and internal reward for their hard work and creativity. My future goals consist of seeing each team member thrive and develop as a creative thinker and writer. Also, I'd like the teams to serve as school wide examples of the importance and value of creative expression.”

One of those talented students is Junior Alexis Torer who recently had a successful tournament when she came in first place. I was talking to her in hopes of learning more about her victory and who she is as a writer.

When first addressing her win, Torer said, “At the competition I placed first in the varsity division. There were about fifteen other schools each with around six varsity writers, so I was competing against eighty-nine (excluding myself) varsity writers.”

There are hundreds of participants in these tournament which makes for a tough competition. This competition challenges these student’s writing abilities and it requires a talented writer to win the overall competition. To be so successful in these types of competitions you must not only have skill, but you must also have passion.

When asking her about her relationship to writing she said, “I joined the team during my freshman year because I have always loved writing and wanted to use the opportunity to further develop my writing. My passion made joining the team a natural fit.”

Clearly, she is one of the students that meets both the requirements in regards to skill and passion. Torer has always been a fan of writing and after finding a place here at Aurora, she knew it was a perfect fit. In her words, “The purpose of the PenOhio team and competition is to provide writers with an outlet for their creativity and give them recognition.”

However, In terms of writing, it is not always easy. Torer not only expressed the joy that writing brings, but she also expresses her challenges, “I do enjoy writing but it is important to note that it is work. Good writing does not come naturally and usually involves a lot of frustration and self-doubt. Still, I can not imagine a life without writing.”

Although she enjoys writing, just like any activity, it comes with its obstacles. When faced with any sort of challenge, it is normal to set a goal for yourself to help yourself improve.

When talking with Torer about the challenges she faces she says, “ There is always room for improvement in writing. A big goal of mine is to be more disciplined with my writing and have a regular schedule for myself. Books don't write themselves, so if I want to make a living doing what I love I need to ensure that I am at my best. Essentially, strengthening my writing has been my priority.”

With such a passion and talent for writing, it only makes sense that she pursues this as a career. When asking her about her future plans, her response was, “I am thinking about going into journalism, and it is my hope that I will someday make a living as fiction author. Of course it will be difficult, but I will be doing my best to become published.”

After coming in first and having a strong passion and drive to write, Torer has a bright future ahead of her. She knows what she wants to accomplish and she is willing to work for it. As she continues to grow as a writer and student, she prepares to take on the world.