Whether it be poetry, journalism, essay or fiction work, Ms. Evelyn Lauer does it all. Homestead’s English department hosted Ms. Lauer on Wednesday, May 25 to speak about her journey as a writer.

Ms. Lauer is a writer for the Huffington Post as well as other publications. She also is a journalism advisor for Niles West High School. Ms. Lauer received a bachelor’s degree in both English and journalism from the University of Iowa and continued on to get a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Texas State University.

Adding on to Ms. Lauer’s success, she is currently working on a young adult love novel. With that being said, Ms. Lauer is more than qualified to address young writers. “I found what she said very inspiring, and I especially loved how she let us hear the story behind her novel,” Lauren Padgett, senior, said.

Starting off her presentation, Ms. Lauer had the students write down why they write. Ms. Lauer continued on to make the point that writing is more than just words on paper. It connects people and makes them feel less alone; sharing stories helps bring people together.

For example, through gaining experience from being a published writer, Ms. Lauer stated that she has received emails on multiple accounts from young women thanking her for telling their story.

Ms. Lauer later shared a snippet of her own personal love story. She completed and published an ode to her first high school love–something almost everyone can relate to. “Listening to an adult talk about their young love story was super eye-opening and worth listening to. With high school relationships, you never know what to expect, so hearing Lauer talk about hers was very interesting,” Abbi Passey, junior, stated.

The presentation ended with the students completing another writing exercise with the prompt of “truth is.” Students started writing what first came to mind, and, throughout the process, Ms. Lauer mentioned a word or phrase that the student had to somehow include in their story.

“I was surprised about how mine turned out. I thought it was going to sound all over the place, but it turned out pretty funny and put together,” Jake Elchert, senior, said.