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I'm more surprised by the story telling and narrative of the 14 year old author! Impressed. Pretty sure the only thing I was worrying about when 14 was how to g

I'm more surprised by the story telling and narrative of the 14 year old author! Impressed. Pretty sure the only thing I was worrying about when 14 was how to get past the min. word count and not use "however" so much.

dkarbayev 8y ago
Feels so fake, to be honest. I don’t know, may be she surely is that gifted or developed, but internet made me skeptical and doubtful about everything.
- VRay 8y ago
  I knew a lot of kids who typed that way when I was that age.. (not me though, I loved my 1337speak)
Insanity 8y ago
Indeed, really impressive. It also impressed me to see what she's involved in at school: > Sonia Bokhari is an 8th grader and a persuasive and narrative writer. She is also the leader of her middle school’s Gay-Straight Alliance and a member of the school’s Environmental Club. She might not be the average 14yo :)
- coldtea 8y ago
  Yeah, she might be the parent-pressured 14yo.
  - TremendousJudge 8y ago
    wouldn't surprise me considering that she has the kind of parents that post online all the time about their kids
- dqpb 8y ago
  Wait, so she's not an engineer? - "We are also the next generation of engineers and innovators"
taude 8y ago
Probably went through some professional editing before publishing....
- ponyous 8y ago
  Definitely. Some of my stuff was published when I was really young. From what I remember it was edited for clarity and slightly reordered for a better narrative. Core ideas and point persisted.
jerf 8y ago
It's edited, of course. Since this is the 21st century and everyone's on a hair trigger for reasons to be offended, everyone in magazines like that is edited, so there's nothing particular about this author getting edited. Magazines have editors for a reason. Nobody produces the best prose on their own without any editing. The only thing in the article that really struck me as strained was the "We are also the next generation of engineers and innovators," bit. Wouldn't be surprised that was a whole-cloth editorial insertion.
- beering 8y ago
  > really struck me as strained was the "We are also the next generation of engineers and innovators," bit. People have been saying this to kids non-stop, so it's not a stretch to think that they would parrot it as well. I think both explanations are plausible.
  - jerf 8y ago
    I agree. It was just the one thing that kinda struck me as a bit off. My experiences with that age range and my experiences being that age range are such that that's not something really on our minds at that age. The only thing a conventionally-schooled 8th grader knows and can remember is being in school. (Not quite the same age range, but I told my 2nd grader that I use math a lot at work and I'm pretty sure that there was at least a period of time where he thought I basically go to work every day and do addition problems... I'm still not sure that's not necessarily the subconscious view he has.)
IshKebab 8y ago
She definitely didn't write this as-is. No 14-year-old writes this well. It feels as it if was the result of an interview, transcribed by an adult into the first person. "How did you feel? Did you feel betrayed?" "Yeah I guess. It's embarrassing." => "I felt utterly embarrassed, and deeply betrayed." Also this... > I feel like I’m being spared from what could potentially be dangerous for me at such a young age. ... is definitely written by an adult. For one thing, 14 year olds don't think they are young.
- Midnightas 8y ago
  I as a soon 16-year old definitely still consider myself a child, it's ignorant to disagree with what is practically proven. I'm definitely not as wise as this 14-year old, makes me a bit jealous, have to admit.
- coolreader18 8y ago
  > For one thing, 14 year olds don't think they are young. Having been 14 relatively recently, yes, they do, at least in this sort of context.
caprese 8y ago
> I'm more surprised by the story telling and narrative of the 14 year old author! ITT: Everyone forgets about the blogging sites that were popular when they were 13 and 14. 2002 had lots of articulate 14 year olds, what happened with your experience?

dkarbayev 8y ago

Feels so fake, to be honest. I don’t know, may be she surely is that gifted or developed, but internet made me skeptical and doubtful about everything.

VRay 8y ago
I knew a lot of kids who typed that way when I was that age.. (not me though, I loved my 1337speak)

Insanity 8y ago

Indeed, really impressive. It also impressed me to see what she's involved in at school: > Sonia Bokhari is an 8th grader and a persuasive and narrative writer. She is also the leader of her middle school’s Gay-Straight Alliance and a member of the school’s Environmental Club. She might not be the average 14yo :)

coldtea 8y ago
Yeah, she might be the parent-pressured 14yo.
- TremendousJudge 8y ago
  wouldn't surprise me considering that she has the kind of parents that post online all the time about their kids
dqpb 8y ago
Wait, so she's not an engineer? - "We are also the next generation of engineers and innovators"

taude 8y ago

Probably went through some professional editing before publishing....

ponyous 8y ago
Definitely. Some of my stuff was published when I was really young. From what I remember it was edited for clarity and slightly reordered for a better narrative. Core ideas and point persisted.

jerf 8y ago

It's edited, of course. Since this is the 21st century and everyone's on a hair trigger for reasons to be offended, everyone in magazines like that is edited, so there's nothing particular about this author getting edited. Magazines have editors for a reason. Nobody produces the best prose on their own without any editing. The only thing in the article that really struck me as strained was the "We are also the next generation of engineers and innovators," bit. Wouldn't be surprised that was a whole-cloth editorial insertion.

beering 8y ago
> really struck me as strained was the "We are also the next generation of engineers and innovators," bit. People have been saying this to kids non-stop, so it's not a stretch to think that they would parrot it as well. I think both explanations are plausible.
- jerf 8y ago
  I agree. It was just the one thing that kinda struck me as a bit off. My experiences with that age range and my experiences being that age range are such that that's not something really on our minds at that age. The only thing a conventionally-schooled 8th grader knows and can remember is being in school. (Not quite the same age range, but I told my 2nd grader that I use math a lot at work and I'm pretty sure that there was at least a period of time where he thought I basically go to work every day and do addition problems... I'm still not sure that's not necessarily the subconscious view he has.)

IshKebab 8y ago

She definitely didn't write this as-is. No 14-year-old writes this well. It feels as it if was the result of an interview, transcribed by an adult into the first person. "How did you feel? Did you feel betrayed?" "Yeah I guess. It's embarrassing." => "I felt utterly embarrassed, and deeply betrayed." Also this... > I feel like I’m being spared from what could potentially be dangerous for me at such a young age. ... is definitely written by an adult. For one thing, 14 year olds don't think they are young.

Midnightas 8y ago
I as a soon 16-year old definitely still consider myself a child, it's ignorant to disagree with what is practically proven. I'm definitely not as wise as this 14-year old, makes me a bit jealous, have to admit.
coolreader18 8y ago
> For one thing, 14 year olds don't think they are young. Having been 14 relatively recently, yes, they do, at least in this sort of context.

caprese 8y ago

> I'm more surprised by the story telling and narrative of the 14 year old author! ITT: Everyone forgets about the blogging sites that were popular when they were 13 and 14. 2002 had lots of articulate 14 year olds, what happened with your experience?