![\"jenah-and-hurst\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Jenah-and-Hurst.jpg\")
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What OLHS senior Jenah Creecy wanted to say was not obvious to her at first \u2014 or even later. She admits to being a procrastinator but also says that\u2019s when she does her best writing. She also says it\u2019s indicative of attention deficit disorder (ADD), which became the focus of her poem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was talking to my friend, and I said, \u2018I really don\u2019t know what to write about. I\u2019m so lost.\u2019 Which is funny because it\u2019s part of my ADD that I was putting it off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was online. I was looking up random facts. My friend said, \u2018What are you doing? You need to focus. Your ADD is getting in the way.\u2019 I said, \u201cYou\u2019re right! That\u2019s what I should write about!\u201d<\/p>\n
At the moment of this revelation, she was looking at a webpage that included a fact about lightening being six times hotter than the sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018Hey, that sounds pretty cool.\u2019 That ended up being the first line. So all of those random facts that are in there are something I was actually looking at the time,\u201d Creecy said.<\/p>\n
Random facts woven throughout a very real, very personal perspective about her life with ADD, which she titled, \u201cLike Lightning.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was undiagnosed until her sophomore year in high school when her struggles with AP chemistry became a daily ordeal requiring 12 hours for her to complete homework.\u00a0Medicine has helped, though\u00a0not understood by all.\u00a0That stigma also became part of Creecy\u2019s message.<\/p>\n
My mind is no yellow brick road<\/em>, she wrote and then recited in the spoken word video for class. It\u2019s a maze with no end or beginning. I forgot how I started and I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m heading. No road signs lead the way, just harsh labels being stuck on me as I go. \u201cSlacker.\u201d \u201cProcrastinator.\u201d \u201cScatter-brained.\u201d I want to scatter those names across an ocean whose color matches the eyes of that classmate who told me that taking pills to stay focused was cheating.<\/em><\/p>\n Creecy also included the misperception of a past boyfriend, a part of the piece she said is one of her favorites.<\/p>\n I was medicated for it in my junior year, and I remember telling my boyfriend at the time about it and I was met with the response of, \u201cOh, thank god, you\u2019ll be fixed,\u201d as if my hour long homework sessions and my incessant question-asking during the Star Wars movies were something that made me broken. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something he actually did say to me,\u201d recalled Creecy. \u201cI got very self-conscious at that point, thinking that maybe people find me annoying and I would not want to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n She moved past the comment and the boyfriend.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was something I overcame, too, so that\u2019s one of my favorite lines because I feel empowered because I overcame that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes it so vulnerable for a teenager,\u201d interjected Hurst about how Creecy approached the work.<\/p>\n Hurst also has favorite sections, mainly because of the insight they have provided her as a teacher.<\/p>\n I was diagnosed with it in my sophomore year but I had been drawing the symptoms of it on every homework paper in the form of graphite flower sketches and random swirls since first grade.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAs a teacher, how many doodles have I seen on kids\u2019 papers,\u201d said Hurst after reading the line. \u201cEven Jenah in my class sometimes, I see her always just doodling. As I teacher you wonder, do I take offense to it or do I just let it go?\u201d<\/p>\n After seeing Creecy\u2019s video, says Hurst, now you just understand.<\/p>\n \u201cThat resonated with me and I think a lot of other teachers,\u201d Hurst said. \u201cThe classroom scenario where you said, \u2018I\u2019m the girl who always asked the question that just got asked.\u2019 They\u2019re very relevant! That\u2019s been the feedback from so many teachers: \u2018I see this in my own students.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n One teacher told Hurst he even saw it in himself. \u201cThat\u2019s so me. Everything she said is me.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the struggles and negative comments, the always-smiling Creecy embraces her ADD.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate the fact that it does make me think differently. Maybe I don\u2019t always notice what you say, but I am noticing little things,\u201d she said. \u201cWhich is why I like my writing because it\u2019s the details that I notice when I\u2019m not paying attention to what you\u2019re saying that end up in my writing. It definitely makes me think better in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n Her thinking and determination are reflected in her academic record. The honor roll student has earned a scholarship to attend Virginia Wesleyan next year, though her success has surprised some peers.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018You have good grades, I don\u2019t know how you have ADD.\u2019 I get that a lot.\u201d Creecy said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make me stupid. It just makes things harder,\u201d she added. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t come easy to me. I work really, really hard for my grades. I\u2019m pretty determined to get things done, even though I don\u2019t get them done in a reasonable amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n Writing, however, is something that comes easily to her.<\/p>\n She wrote the poem for Hurst\u2019s class in about 10 minutes, memorized it after slight revisions, and delivered a spoken word performance that has moved many. Once Creecy made the private online post public, at the urging of both her mother and volleyball coach who wanted to share it with family and friends, a television station in Florida contacted her for an interview and to share the video on its website.<\/p>\n Creecy wants all credit to go to her OLHS English teachers Hurst and Katie Anderson for teaching her everything she knows about writing. Hurst rebuffs the notion, stating that Creecy created the \u201camazing work\u201d all on her own, even making the most of quick speaking to convey her message.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like it was kind of how my mind actually works, so I did it that way,\u201d said Creecy. \u201cAlso, talking that fast, I feel like that\u2019s how my brain is going, constantly all around.\u201d<\/p>\n View Creecy\u2019s spoken word \u201cLike Lightning\u201d below.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"jenah-2\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Jenah-2.jpg\")
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