The Seed

It all started with a really hard year.

Toward the end of fourth grade in 2019, I was going through a lot. Fourth grade had been tough in ways I didn’t really know how to explain at the time. I was learning some of life’s harder lessons—about friendship, gossip, bullying, kindness, and what it feels like when people don’t always treat you the way you hope they will.

I was also beginning to notice things happening around me that were bigger than just my own experiences. I saw kids coming to school hungry. I saw how difficult it could be for teachers to teach when classrooms were filled with constant disruptions. I was only ten years old, but I was starting to realize that life isn’t always easy or fair.

Still, I didn’t want the hard things I was experiencing to change who I was.

I had always been a kid who wanted to be kind. My mom had taught me to treat people with kindness, to be willing to talk to anyone, and to remember that you never really know what someone else might be going through. Even when I was hurting, I wanted to hold onto those things.

Then one night, everything changed. My mom and I were sitting together reading a book and talking about my fourth-grade year. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, she looked at me and said something that would completely change the direction of my life.

She told me, “Meadow, you could write a book like this.”

A book of my own. A book filled with words of wisdom that I could share with other kids.

I remember looking at her and asking, “I could write a book?”

She said, “Of course you can.”

And just like that, the seed was planted.

That very night, we decided to use the alphabet as our guide. We started brainstorming words for every letter, and before we even realized what was happening, the idea for Strong, Bold, and Courageous: Words of Wisdom from a Fifth Grader From A to Z was born.

I didn’t know anything about writing or publishing a book. I mean I was ten years old! My mom didn’t either. But she had told me I could do it, so we decided we were going to figure it out together. And when I say together... I mean, she would be figuring it out!

That summer, instead of spending my time doing the usual summer workbooks, I worked on my book. My mom helped me every step of the way, and together we learned how to turn an idea into something real.

But somewhere along the way, the book became about so much more than writing. It became about what I could do with the things I had been through. I could let the hurt make me bitter, or I could let it make me better. I could focus on the people who had hurt me, or I could use my voice to encourage someone else. I could believe that because I was young, I couldn’t make a difference—or I could believe that my words mattered.

I chose to believe my words mattered.

Looking back, I realize that book was the beginning of something much bigger than I understood at ten years old.

It taught me that hard experiences can become something meaningful. That creativity can come from unexpected places. That you can turn pain into purpose. And that you don't have to be an adult to make a difference in someone else's life.

That little idea my mom gave me became my first book, but it also became the beginning of my purpose.

A seed was planted that night. And over the years, that seed has continued to grow.

What started as one little book written by a fifth grader has become a mission close to my heart: to encourage other young people, one book at a time.

I don’t know exactly how big this seed will grow.

But I know this—

I’m going to keep watering it.