Writing Background

I have always loved writing. Ever since I was in first grade I have been entering writing pieces in different contests and trying to get different pieces published in many different types of media. I was successful in doing so several times and winning awards for my writing only boosted my love for writing. I wrote many short stories, journals, and poems. I won a Young Authors award every year for eight years throughout grade school and one of my short stories was even nationally recognized when I was in fifth grade. However, once I started high school, I found less and less time to pursue my writing and even less time to find time to write just for fun. Eventually, I stopped writing all together unless it was a writing assignment for school. I still enjoy writing essays and getting creative writing assignments but I would really like to find time to start writing for fun again in a few years from now. It has been a life long goal of  mine to publish a novel at some point in my future and that goal still stands. I hope that once I am finished with college and start my career, I will find more time to pursue this goal and get back to writing. For the time being, I hope to focus on my school work, graduate on time, and start a career. Hopefully I will not lose my passion for writing in the process, but I do look forward to turning some of the short stories I've written in the past into actual novels in the future.