Georgia Marshall is a sophomore in high school. She lives in Massachusetts and has always loved reading and writing. From a young age, she used the written word as an outlet for her emotions, and the most vital way to express herself. She has had multiple poetry, essay, and short story publications in literary journals including Half and One and Stone Soup. She is also an assistant editor for her school newspaper and interns for the local newspaper in her town, as well as Girls’ Life Magazine. When she’s not in school or writing, she sings in an all-female acapella group and a treble choir. Georgia believes that words and storytelling have the power to transform lives and connect people across countries, generations, and entire worlds. Acting as a peer reviewer for the Sociality of the Story Refugee program has been an incredible experience for Georgia, instilling in her a stronger sense of the power of storytelling and a deepened passion for writing. Being able to connect with so many young people in entirely different situations and life circumstances through their writing was a powerful reminder of the mysterious power words have over people. Working with Charles Shika Safina on his incredible and inspiring story was Georgia’s favorite part of the experience. She is honored to have played even a small part in his storytelling journey.
Personal Narrative
Interview with Feza
My story is about my life with my best friend and how she became such a person of worth in my life. It is a true story. It is not imagined. In my story, I talk about my friend who gave me sadness. I trusted her and she showed me hurt I didn’t deserve. This taught me about people. I hope my readers learn that trusting people isn’t always good enough. I hope to help all refugees to learn through me and change their lives through what happened in my story. Thank you for reading my story.
Interview with Blandine
Thank you for sharing this powerful story with us. Could you tell us about what inspired you to write it? I chose to write what I am going through as a young girl to archive my goals and experiences. I hope my readers will take a good message from it. I would also like to share my story with those who live lives such as mine. This life is painful, but we should not give up even if we pass through many difficult things. We must stand up and show those who ignore the poor that even the poor are important and they deserve a better life. What messages do you hope your readers will take away from your story? I hope my readers learn how to be nice to poor people because not everyone is rich and we all have ups and downs but poor people suffer the most. I hope they will know how children who are in poor families suffer and how they can be ignored. What, from your perspective, is the point of storytelling? Why do we tell stories, what do they do for us, and what purpose do they serve? I can define storytelling as the way of letting people know what is going on, what was in the past or will be in the future. I tell stories to make people know things that they were not knowing. Stories show how we are unique. The writing and telling of stories helps us to develop skills. Did your story change over the course of your participation in the storytelling workshops? How? It changed some. I was advised to modify some paragraphs by my peer reviewer which was helpful to me. As a writer, I have grown in unique ways. I can now define storytelling and writing more clearly, and I have also learned how to express my feelings more effectively. How does your story offer an alternative path, point of view, or way forward? How does it speak to the possibility of an otherwise? I look forward to seeing children from underprivileged backgrounds being treated with the same respect and care as children from wealthier families. Poor girls, in particular, deserve to be respected just as boys are. Boys should not assume that girls from poorer backgrounds deserve less. It is essential to understand that everyone deserves equal treatment and respect.
