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Editor’s note: Jed Nelson is the Austin Daily Herald’s intern throughout the summer.

Growing up on a farm in a small town comes with positives and negatives. The positives were that I could do what I wanted when I wanted. My mom, being the hard worker that she is, was off doing her own thing, being on hands and knees in black dirt, wielding some type of garden tool I didn’t know the name of. My dad was doing much of the same – fixing huge farm equipment that I figured would swallow me whole if I even laid a finger on it.

In my eyes, my parents’ preoccupation was a positive thing. It allowed me to do what I wanted – to play baseball with my brother or create elaborate worlds with my action figures. But the negatives … well, the negatives were when one of my parents would shout my name asking for my help, taking me out of whatever fun I was having.

Storytelling has always been a part of my life. Whether it was playing sports with my brother or playing with my Star Wars action figures or Legos, there was always a storyline that had to be followed. When I grew out of the toys, that’s when I began to truly write. I had a tiny notebook that I wrote in. It contained a handful of stories that I started but never finished – I chalk that up to being a kid, being excited about one idea then another “better” idea pops into my head and I feel the urge to write that one instead. And then I grew a bit older and thought reading and writing was boring, so I stopped doing both.

I graduated from Lyle Public School in 2021. I was an athlete through and through. I have extremely fond memories of competing alongside my teammates that I will never forget. But during that time, I fell out of love with reading and writing for fun. Sure, I read the “Great Gatsby” and other classic novels, but not because I wanted to. It was because I had to in order to pass my high school English classes.

After high school, I attended Riverland Community College where my passion for reading and writing was reignited. Doing creative writing exercises in my Composition 1 course allowed me to write for fun again, which was an aspect of my high school English class I felt lacked. During my time at RCC, I won first place in a writing contest for students. Winning that award gave me the confidence to explore avenues that allowed me to strengthen my writing skills.

Today, I am a student at Winona State University majoring in English Writing. I will be starting my senior year in the fall, and plan to use my degree to work in journalism or education.