Everyone spends their time differently whether that be sports, work, hanging around with friends, or even writing — like Amnah Al-Qudah. Inspired by her father, Al-Qudah grew up with a creative mind she would use to express her feelings.

“{What got me into writing was} my dad partly, he has actually published a book . . . he’s always been a great writer,” Al-Qudah said. “Other than my dad, I have also enjoyed writing since I was little.”

Writing not only for herself, Al-Qudah would participate in writing competitions as well as winning a few to honor her work. She would also show her writing to her close ones and focus on emotions in her work rather than serious subjects.

“I used to join writing competitions in and out of school. I’ve won multiple writing contests from 5th to 9th grade,” Al-Qudah said. “I write poems for fun, and I share it sometimes with friends or family. When it comes to poetry in general, I prefer to write about more feeling-based topics, rather than serious topics,”

Al-Qudah has used writing to help her cope with her personal feelings and finds it easier to write when she has been through it. She feels better when her feelings are written down and she isn’t holding onto anything.

“A lot of my writing is from experience, and I find it a lot easier to write when I’ve been through things and genuinely felt it,” Al-Qudah said. “I met my best friend and started opening up to him, and ever since then it felt really good to write out how I felt. . . . I felt a lot more free when writing because I didn’t feel like I was holding a lot of stuff in.”

Overall, Al-Qudah’s unique coping strategies have created art, helped her through rough patches, and benefitted her. She has let go of negative emotions and brought in positive ones to spend her time, unlike others.