Breck senior receives Gold Key American Voices Nomination

The Breck community is excited to congratulate Zoe Jagiela '23 on her Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key American Voices nomination! Zoe shares below what it means to her to receive this distinction.  

What does it mean to you to receive this Gold Key American Voices nomination?

When I found out, I remember the first thing I did was call my mom. That’s the word we always tried to pinpoint in my writing: voice. I think that’s a word all writers hold sacred. Back when I was writing things that could barely be called poems, that’s what my mom told me was emerging, my voice. I was skeptical at the time, but I always wanted to suspect that of myself, that I might have those words that would constitute a voice. So this nomination is an incredible honor. And, for me, it was also a very exciting phone call home.

What do you love about writing?  

To loosely quote a favorite author of mine, Louise Glück says that writing occupies the same space as the train of thought. When the thought moves on, the writing moves on. I’ve always loved this, and it’s true. Writing is a passion that uniquely grows with you and follows you wherever you are or whoever you are. I can’t even imagine what I’ll be writing about next week, let alone in a month from now, or a year. It’s a source of infinite joy.

How has Breck helped nurture and support you and your writing? 

I feel so fortunate to have had the teachers I’ve had over the years. Without them, I might never have suspected a “voice” in me at all. The voice has to learn to speak before it can ever be heard. It starts with that push — like in first grade, where my first poem was born — who would I be without that moment? Or in 10th grade, when my teacher told me they saw art in me, so I kept writing poems to see if they would resemble that word. My teachers gave me a microphone. I’m forever grateful for that.
 

Congratulations again, Zoe! 

To learn more about this nomination, click here.