Artificial Intelligence wasn’t the only reason I didn’t put my work out there, but it became one.
During my time at California State University, Sacramento, I had an idea but didn’t really know how to act on it.
Having started as a Chemistry major (prior to my transfer), with a love of all things science. From scientists detecting neutrinos, crystalline structures in organic compounds, to the far reaches of space that see cosmic microwave background radiation. I was always curious as a child, wanting to learn as much as I could, but it was challenging for me. I realized that with my specific learning disabilities, I at the time didn’t feel I was capable of producing the test scores needed for me to endure with the rest of my classmates.
For me, that was okay, because few of my peers found my humor and comedy amusing. So the decision was already made in my mind when I told my advisor that I wanted to switch to communications because talking was also something I enjoyed doing. I felt that I might be able to apply the degree to almost any job.
Any job was good for me at this point because I had a plan on being a pharmacist at a pharmaceutical company. So much for my dream of finding new formulas for medications kinda fell flat. So, why not become a writer?
I love writing, I’ve been doing it since I can remember, on anything I can get my hands on. I feel empty without having a piece of paper and something to write with. Don’t you? Especially when I get to tell the people around me about my ideas. Unfortunately, I can forget that not everyone wants to be talked at for minutes to hours just because of a thought that popped into my head. I understand now why my comedy wasn’t always appreciated in the chemistry lab. So then why didnt i publish or push any of my work out?
Self-doubt and low confidence. I wasn’t prepared to take the kind of criticism on my own work that I produced and wasn’t forced to make. Look, academia is great, and all but the things I wanted to talk about didn’t fit with the curriculum for Public Relations Majors. My schedule didn’t allow me to get my creative writing minor like I wanted, but did I need it? I already have so many things I wanted to speak about, with more to come.
It was the FOUNDATION, learning how to write a lab report, essay, or article all came down to one thing: Writing Style. Yes, your professors do have an end result. Look, you can’t structure a story well if you don’t know what you’re doing. Same with a Lab Report in my chemistry courses, if you didn’t understand how to balance a chemical equation, remember how ions, atoms and molecules form crystal structures. You’re going to have a very difficult time doing what you love.
Communications and public relations taught me the rules of writing, and now I get to have the great pleasure of breaking those rules to find my voice as a writer. This is because I know what works and what doesn’t. I tried college again in 2019, right before COVID-19. Look, it was hard on all of us, you where their, so I know you remember- moving on.
But in 2022, we started to hear reports that companies had started using sites like Reddit, blog sites like Medium and those of us with GitHub repositories, even the current it girl of the writing community, Substack, gives creators a toggle button to keep AI from scraping their work and learning from it. So, I am to believe that Substack’s CEO is Chris Best. This Chris Best has you in mind when thinking about what he does with his company or what he is allowing to happen behind closed doors, or in this case backend? In 2026, I am not trusting any company at their word. Why would we? Look, maybe my life has made me somewhat of a cynic, but to be fair, look at what is happening all around us. Be wary of who you give you Intellectual property to.