IV. Overlap

"Working at the UWC has made me a better question-asker, whether it's eliciting specifics about a writer's experiences to help them craft a stronger autobiographical narrative, or encouraging them to back up assertions... As a consultant[,] you have access to a lifetime's worth of information in someone's head; you only need to ask the right questions to elicit it." —Sarah B., undergraduate writing center consultant


 I went to elementary school in the 2000s, which means I spent my formative years being taught to distrust strangers who offered me candy—but also to distrust anyone and everyone on the internet.

I also became an online content creator (specifically a young adult book blogger) in 2012, which means I quickly learned to systematically ignore the latter half of that advice.


I started my blog because no one I knew in-person quite understood my passion for children’s and teens’ literature, and I wanted to meet people who I could text at 1 a.m., crying because I had just finished the last book in my favorite series and it was that good. Incidentally, my blog gave me a number of other gifts (a love of writing, professional development, and more), but most importantly, it gave me the chance to meet the brilliant bookish friends I longed for.


Over the past five years, I’ve made some of my best friends online. I’ve created websites and podcasts and blog features with some of them, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of them in person. They’re not simply my “internet friends;” they’re my friends, full stop—and I marvel every day that I’ve been lucky enough to get to know them despite geographic distance.

These friendships became exceptionally important when I graduated from high school and moved on to college. During my freshman year, talking with them about books, dorm life, and everything in between provided the stability I craved during every childhood move.


When you bond with a friend over words and stories, you form a relationship designed to survive time zone differences. It can’t be shattered by a few more miles of separation. Online communities remind me in so many ways of cities and towns and neighborhoods—but I'd argue the former is usually better equipped to handle change.

If it’s true that the robot revolution is threatening to ruin our lives (it’s not), if it’s true that print is dying (it’s not), I’m glad I get to live during the overlap, when I can use the world’s most magical tool for human connection to share my love of stories.