Staff Q&As: Emma Zawacki

Name: Emma Zawacki

Grade: 10

Position: Staff Writer

Semesters spent on TCT: 1

1. Why did you decide to join TCT?

“I decided to join TCT on a bit of a whim. English has always been one of my favorite classes, and I’ve always loved writing no matter what it is that I’m writing. While searching for electives to take, the Writing For Publication class stood out as something I knew I wanted to do, and I decided to try it.”

2. How has TCT helped you grow as a writer and person?

“Being surrounded by other fabulous writers pushes you to get better at your own writing. It pushes you to use better word choice and spend more time on your writing, as well. Being surrounded by other writers just overall helps you better your own writing.”

3. If you were a type of cheese, what type of cheese would you be?

“If I were a cheese I’d be Muenster cheese.”

4. What is your favorite thing about writing?

“My favorite thing about writing is the creative freedom it allows me during my stressful day. It allows me to ‘brain dump’ all the emotions I feel, and I love the challenge of making even ugly emotions sound beautiful.”

5. What’s your funniest story of complications while working on a story? 

“I get bad headaches every couple days, and one day, my headaches were particularly bad, and I wasn’t feeling very well on top of that. [So] I called my mom and went home. Well, I had a story due that day and didn’t have the picture downloaded to my drive yet, so I frantically texted three different people in the class and asked them to help me get this picture from Lydia and attach it to my profile and put it in pending. 

6. Who’s your favorite literary character and why?

“My absolute favorite literary character would be Hermione Granger. Ever since I’ve been in first grade, I’ve been a bit of a Potterhead, and until the end of the third book, I didn’t have a favorite character until—bit of a spoiler alert—Hermione punches Draco Malfoy across the nose. Ever since, she’s been my favorite. I loved the fact that she seemed to be the only one who ever knew what was going on, and I admired her sense of leadership and intelligence and still aspire to be just like her.”

7. What is your favorite type of story to write and why? 

“My favorite types of stories to write are columns and profiles. I love writing profiles because I love finding out the little quirky details in someone’s life that makes them them. Columns are my other favorite stories to write because I love the creative freedom they allow, and I also love coming up with fun titles for them.”

8. What are your aspirations for the upcoming decade? 

“I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions because most people don’t ever go through with their resolutions, so instead, I have goals that I want to accomplish. This decade, I want to get better at self-care. I want to make more time in my schedule to take care of my mind and just take better care of my mental health.”