JOURNALISM student, Olivia Bekiki has joined our merry band of bloggers. As a gentle opener, we asked Olivia to tell us why she likes writing.

IT all began when I was six years old, coming back from school in my bedroom I would read my French vocabulary textbook and learn all the ‘complicated’ words by writing my own sentences.

Being raised solely by my mother had a significant impact on my feelings towards my father -an irresponsible one- and the fear to communicate those abnormal feelings to someone led me to write. Writing became my favourite game and my secret diary became my best friend.

I would lock myself in my room and write throughout the whole afternoon about everything but nothing: what I ate, what I would like to eat, my new crush, my mother’s personality, me as 6-year-old girl etc…

As a teenager my love for writing grew more because I read more and I realised how I loved words. With the encouragement of my English teacher I read a lot of newspaper articles and learnt how to write for different purposes.

On that note I decided to move to the United Kingdom to learn Journalism at University I felt it was a good combination as it would give me the opportunity to be capable to write in English.

To the question: ‘Why do I love writing?’ The answer is that writing gives me the power to imagine, to dream and to be myself. Writing has been like a game as well as a therapy as a child and has become a passion now. I acknowledge the fact that certain people perceive writers as ‘bunch of weirdos’ but writers connect with an audience.

I can express myself freely and I feel a sense of completeness when I write. I do not write to be appreciated nor recognised I write because I love it and I love to write about anything but nothing!

From a film review to the Harlow streetlights controversy I will write- a true writer has no topic preference.