Writing can be
more than just words Clarence man's essay included in Teen Ink
book
By Shannon Keck
Clarence Bee - January 10, 2001
Everyone deals
with loss in their own way and for 18 year-old Andrew Hammer it was writing an
essay.
Four years ago, Hammer's mother and sister were in a car accident
on their way to the store.
Although his sister, Meta, suffered injuries,
she survived the accident. His mother did not.
"My sister had glass in her
eyes which they said was actually good," said Hammer. "Because she had the glass
in her eyes she kept her eyes closed the whole time so she didn't see anything
(after the accident)."
On the day of the accident Hammer was repeatedly
told that he needed to be strong for his family.
"I never did cry that
day, although I probably should have," said Hammer.
But two years later
Hammer took out a pen and started organizing his feelings about his mother's
death onto paper. Writing helped him stay in control.
"It started out as
just something for myself but I ended up using it for an autobiography assignment
in my AP English class," said Hammer.
Hammer's English Teacher, Sharron
Doerr, asked the students to write about a person or event that they wouldn't
mind sharing with the class.
"I knew about what had happened to his mother
and I was surprised that he would choose that as his topic," said Doerr. "But I
had just recently lost my husband and so I could understand how writing it was
probably therapeutic for him."
Although Doerr believed Hammer's original
essay was well written she encouraged him to write more in detail and to come up
with a title.
"There was one part where he mentions that his mother used
to embarrass him," said Doerr. "I suggested that he go more into detail and
describe how she embarrassed him."
Hammer took her advice and changed his
essay to read, "I was embarrassed by how she dressed, with her dorky Christmas
socks and shirt tucked in all the time."
The beginning of the essay goes
on to say that because of this embarrassment he wished she were dead.
It
continues on by describing how his normal day becomes disrupted after school by
the "distinct crackle of stones in the driveway."
He sets a picture for
the reader of the police pulling into their driveway and describes how he felt
and the way he and his siblings reacted when the officer told them the
news.
Everyone expects family members to be upset after losing a loved
one, but the end of Hammer's essay lets his readers into his mind and describes
his angry thoughts of those who were trying to console him.
He wrote,
"They weren't thinking. They said whatever came to their minds, which left me to
decipher many mixed messages and unbelievable theories on my own."
At the
end of the year Doerr gave her students the assignment of submitting a piece of
work to a publication.
Hammer chose to submit the essay about his mother
to a school-subscribed magazine called Teen Ink.
The magazine was
originally titled "The 21st Century."
His essay was published in their
magazine and soon after in their book, Teen lnk: Our Voices, Our
Visions.
Teen Ink started as a monthly publication made up of work by
teens, for teens. Now it is a magazine, a new book series as well as a Web
site.
"Every day we offer teenagers the opportunity to publish their
creative work and opinions on the issues that affect their lives, everything from
love and family to teen smoking and community service," the Teen Ink Web site
states.
More than 300,000 pieces of work were received by the publishers
and narrowed down to 350 pages by a group of teens from all over the nation.
Hammer's essay was one of those pages. Afterwards Hammer was contacted about
radio shows and book signings.
"I didn't tell my family about it for
sometime because nothing was set in stone," said Hammer.
Hammer's father
didn't even find out about the publicity until Teen Ink came to Buffalo.
"I
just felt proud as a father to see his accomplishment," said Tim Hammer. "I think
it was a healing process for him, like a feeling of closure."
Hammer was
on 11 different talk shows in Buffalo and recently did a book signing in Borders
in Cheektowaga.
Although it hasn't been easy, life has gone on for the
Hammer family.
"It is surprising how much the sorrow stays even after the
grief is gone," said Hammer's father.
"The holidays are especially
difficult since the accident was close to this time of the year and she loved
Christmas," said Hammer.
But losing his mother has taught him not to take
things for granted.
Hammer is now attending State University of New York
at Buffalo for mechanical engineering. He says it is what he has always wanted to
do.
Teen Ink PO Box 30 Newton, MA 02461 (617) 964-6800 editor@teenink.com
Copyright 2008 by Teen Ink, The 21st Century and The Young Authors Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written
permission of the publisher: The Young Authors Foundation, Inc.
Teen Ink is a national teen magazine, book and website featuring
teen writing, information, art, photos, poetry, teen issues and more. All
articles are written by teen authors who are students at schools. The monthly
print magazine is appropriate for any teenager -- teenagers age 13 to 19
attending secondary school: junior high school, middle school and high school.
This publication is used by professional people including English teachers,
writing teachers, language arts instructors, journalism teachers, school
newspaper advisors, librarians, guidance counselors, K-12 principals in addition
to the PTA or PTO. Each issue of Teen Ink magazine contains a wide variety of
student work: we publish nonfiction, fiction, poems, community service, sports,
heroes, interviews, college essays, college reviews, book reviews, concert
reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, video reviews, video game reviews, the
environment, opinion, sports, pets, cars, automobiles, travel and culture, jobs
and money, health issues, artwork, photographs, cartoons, short stories, essays,
writing contests, a college directory and the website also has a bulletin board
and resources for teens and educators. Subjects include racism,
eating disorders, depression, death, suicide, family, relationships, jobs,
grandparents, violence, the college process, college information, colleges,
driving, self esteem, the arts, movies and more. Teen Ink is also a book series
published by HCI Teens. Subjects covered in the book include Friends, Fitting In,
Love, Challenges, Family, Heroes, Loss and Memories. Teen Ink was established in
1989 as The 21st Century magazine by The Young Authors Foundation, a nonprofit
organization. More than 25,000 teens have been published in the magazine and its
companion Poetry Journal. Teen Ink runs a London Summer Program for teenage writers.
