From Camper to College Freshman: Javont’e’s Washington College Journey

A note from Javont'e Patterson —

A story is often a reflection of life; they frequently foreshadow what's to come, giving simple and subtle whispers of the future. Going to Washington College every year for the past three (and now four) summers foretold that this campus would become an important aspect of my life. I should have known that the familiarity I gained over each summer trip would affect the new home I selected for the next few years. This August, I’ll return to Washington College as a WBS camper, and a week later I’ll move onto campus as a college freshman.
 

I spent four long years diligently working through high school, each with its highs and lows. It was a rollercoaster of constantly shifting deadlines, pressures, anxieties, and emotional states. The Baltimore Young Writers Summer Studio at Washington College then recentered me for the next school year.

Although I plan to attend Washington College for art instead of for writing, there is now an undeniable link between creative writing and the Washington College campus due to Writers in Baltimore Schools. My writing will flourish in that lingering atmosphere. The quiet respite of the Baltimore Young Writers Summer Studio formed a home away from home, so as I go there for college this year, I don’t see it as a farewell to my current home, but as an extension of the tradition set by years prior.

After the pressure of school and life, I went to Washington College to unwind while still learning and improving.Now with the more lax nature of college, I’ll have the time to explore different things, truly figure out and be myself while still honing my craft before I’m let out into the real world. It’s all familiar, but not too much so. Exciting, but still restrained. I see this moment through an allegory I was once told:A kite will never fly if the pilot holds it too close, but sever the string and it will get lost in the wind.

 

Javont'e Patterson has been writing with WBS since an
8th grade writing club at Calverton Elementary/Middle School.