David Wang, G9, RDF International School “After carefully reviewing your submission, we are sorry to inform you…” Ten seconds ago I was nervous but excited to receive what could have been an exhilarating result in my mailbox, yet a moment of silence followed instead. I did not finish reading the whole email as the first sentence tug my heartstrings. The failure marked my first article for publication. While feeling frustrated, I kept asking myself what could have gone wrong. Writing was supposed to be my thing. I loved writing as a way to share stories and values with readers. It also brought a strong sense of accomplishment when my writing got recognized. Therefore, getting published had been my goal for a long time. I was confident that the article I submitted on the topic of Surrealism would succeed at first glance. Yet now the door was shut. “Maybe you should finish reading the whole email first and find ways to improve,” my mom came by with a hot drink and left her suggestion. “At least I have the guts to face it,” I told myself and re-opened the email. To my surprise, the editor left detailed advice along with resources for my improvement. As I clicked on the provided links, I read many published articles along with writing journeys that were generously shared by the authors. Some of them didn’t succeed for the first time either, yet they worked harder to revise and resubmit again. There was a point where I realized that ambitions were not earned solely by talents but countless effort and commitment. Therefore, I was determined to revise my article by steady learning. From content to wording, I immersed myself in searching for more information and polishing each sentence. To make a solid article, I borrowed Dada and Surrealism and Apartamento from the library to conduct comprehensive research and in-depth analysis. Moreover, the writing guidelines on writing well significantly helped me to structure my essay. After finishing my draft, I found our school’s most knowledgeable art teacher, to get a review. After lots of dedication, I felt confident enough to say that a well-written essay was born. | 