Freshman Katrina Heisler’s heartfelt love for writing earned her an honorable mention award for her story “When No One’s Looking” in the Tiny Memoir Contest, a competition hosted by the New York Times.
Heisler’s story began in class, where English teacher Seth Czarnecki offered students an opportunity to increase their grades for a writing assignment. It was simple: submit their personal narratives of 100 words or fewer to the Tiny Memoir Contest. However, winning was never a possibility Heisler considered.
“I just wanted the extra credit,” Heisler said.
Despite her lack of interest in the contest, Heisler has always loved writing.
“I feel like it’s something that comes easily to me,” Heisler said.
Though not used to writing about herself, Heisler decided to try. Her winning memoir focused on teen relationships and how she struggled to navigate them.
“It was about liking another girl, and obviously I’m a girl too,” Heisler said. “It was something personal, and I feel like another reason I’m proud of myself is because I was able to make a good story out of it.”
Heisler values her sexual orientation as part of her identity, but it’s not one she often addresses.
“I don’t make it my personality, but I don’t keep it super hidden,” Heisler said. “It’s kind of there. I just let it sit because most people don’t really mind.”
As part of the assignment process, Heisler shared her story with peer editors in class. One of them, freshman Lucy Carr, was impressed with the content and quality of Heisler’s memoir.
“What made her story special was that it was really authentic and from the heart,” Carr said. “There wasn’t really any fluff. It was telling us how she felt and how she incorporated it into her message. It was really impressive.”
Carr and Heisler have been friends since kindergarten, and Carr was struck by how true the story was to the person she’s known for so long.
“She’s just such a great person overall, and [her personality] really came across in her story,” Carr said.
When Carr received an email from the New York Times with the list of winning entries, she instantly spotted Heisler’s name listed as one of the 100 finalists. Heisler made the top 0.1% of over 12,000 entries.
“I immediately screen shotted it and sent her the photo,” Carr said. “[I was] like, ‘Oh my god. This is so crazy.’”
Heisler’s family was excited as well, with relatives quickly sending her congratulatory texts.
“It felt good that they recognized it and knew how big it was,” Heisler said.
Czarnecki also held much respect for his student’s work.
“It was deeply personal, vulnerable and honest; that was what really struck me,” Czarnecki said. “As a reader, I felt honored that this was being shared with me. And in terms of quality, even within the 100 words her writing style created a sense of drama and secrecy.”
When Czarnecki first introduced the contest to the class, he never expected any student to be acknowledged because of the sheer number of entries.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Czarnecki said. “Not because of the quality of anybody’s writing–it’s just highly unlikely.”
However, Czarnecki was not entirely shocked when he discovered Heisler’s writing was recognized.
“She’s outspoken and willing to put herself out there, so it wasn’t surprising to see that she wrote with such vulnerability and that she was acknowledged for it,” Czarnecki said.
Heisler’s English class exploded with cheers and applause when Czarnecki shared the news and presented Heisler with a paper crown. This accomplishment made Heisler the second student in Czarnecki’s class history to be acknowledged by the New York Times.
“You can be acknowledged and get published if you put in the time and effort,” Czarnecki said. “Just put yourself out there.”
