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Seconds ago, I was staring at one of the scariest thing of all, a blank white page. Every blink of the cursor was like a demand, ordering me to write something now, now, now. As I continued to stare at the blinking cursor it began to have an effect on me physically, my heart started beating faster and half-baked ideas rose and collapsed in my head in mere seconds. What should I write? What needs to be said? What would be inspiring?

That’s when I opened The Most Dangerous Writing App. Once you start writing, if you fail to continue, all your progress will be lost. I selected five minutes, clicked start, and began.

I dumped words on the page, sloppy sentences and incomplete thoughts, but the more I forced the words out the more my ideas began to coalesce. Scattered amongst the crap there were the seeds of ideas I could cultivate. I plucked these out and placed them on a fresh page, where I grew a garden of words. Not an award-winning garden, but something small and nice that made me happy.

Writing isn’t always easy or pretty, but it’s always interesting. It teaches you something about yourself or something about the world.

Writing for Synapse has allowed me to keep up my practice during the school year, making it easier for me to write in other situations. Regularly working with other editors on my pieces has taught me how to write more effectively and engagingly. Interacting with individuals in different programs and fields of research has introduced me to new things and made me feel more connected to the UCSF community.

To some it may seem like just a hobby, but writing plays an important role in all fields and is powerful tool that can amplify our voices.

Even if you think you aren’t a writer, I encourage you to just sit down and let your thoughts spill out. The more you do this the easier it will become and the prouder you will feel about what you are pouring out. It doesn't need to be long, it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to happen. It is worth it to make your voice heard.