“My Superpower is Listening”

Emily Méndez leads by listening. That’s how her career at Girls Write Now began. Now, she’s growing her curious ear and curatorial eye as an Editor-in-Residence, where she hears from our community in their own words, and helps connect them to our audience with the knowledge that all stories need a good listener. Emily took the time to tell her own tale. Lend an ear (or eye) as she tells us about it below.?

Tell Us About Your Life@GWN?

It started in the fall of 2018 when I was a Digital Media mentee. Girls Write Now gave me opportunities to learn from experienced mentors who loved reading and writing as me. It was my first time navigating what a mentee-mentor relationship entailed. I took the opportunity to listen to the wisdom and guidance of my mentor to prepare for college, and to start thinking about the future career I wanted. I returned again, in my last year of college, as a mentee in Publishing 360 for another opportunity to learn and grow. Marking each turn and transition by listening to myself and the people in her community, I listened and learned as ways of growing into the person I want to be.?

Later…

After graduation, I took some time to think about where I wanted to go, and I saw that Girls Write Now had internship opportunities—the Editorial Learning Experience. At this time I was intrigued by the idea of pursuing a career in education, and this sounded like the perfect opportunity to gain experience working behind the scenes of an organization that recognizes the value of granting the youth the chance to work on a project with guidance from a mentor and be able to connect with opportunity.?

During my internship, I created journeys to provide accessible and more human-centered learning experiences for mentees and the public. I then became a learning design intern where I continued my work, and recently became an Editor-in-Residence where I help build and publish mentees and mentors’ work digitally to our online publishing platform, Stories. I am also part of the Intersectional Voices in Editorial Committee IVEdit, where along with fellow team members, we lead conversations about storytelling and ideating new ways in which Girls Write Now can continue to elevate diversity and authenticity in the stories we celebrate.

What About Doing This Work Gets You Up in the Morning??

I love thinking about new and creative ways to elevate the ways that learning happens. I was once on one side of a mentee-mentor relationship, where I was learning constantly and finding new ways to express myself artistically through a variety of mediums, techniques, and tools. Now, I’m thinking about how to make mentees’ learning journeys more efficient. I am passionate about making learning accessible for everyone, and what gets me up in the morning is having the opportunity to play a small role in someone’s learning journey.

What is it About the Girls Write Now Work Environment that You Find so Special??

The mentees and mentors I have had the honor of working with have been so kind in sharing their wisdom with our community. I have learned so much from their tips and tricks, personal experiences, work, or from a conversation we’ve had together. I’d say the same about the GWN work environment. Rather than an environment—they have really built a community and have welcomed me into it so kindly and wholeheartedly. I feel celebrated and valued for the work that I do and at the end of every conversation we have, I leave feeling inspired by the diversity of voices that we have and how it makes this community so special.

What’s Your Superpower? How Does That Inform the Work You Do at Girls Write Now?

My superpower is listening. I have always been more of a listener than a talker. I enjoy listening to people’s thoughts and have been fascinated by the ways people express themselves personally and artistically. This, paired up with my inquisitive nature allows me to reflect on how we can best advocate for our mentees and their respective learning journeys based on what I have heard from a diverse range of voices both in my personal life and professional life.

In just over one month, on April 23, Girls Write Now releases our 25th anniversary book. In celebration of this new book, all interviews in the Life@GWN series this year will include mentee-inspired questions from that book.

A Prompt from Kaya Fraser from Girls Write Now on the Art of the Craft

Is growing older what you imagined it’d be? Reflect on your younger you’s hopes for the future. What is the answer to your childhood’s biggest question?

Growing older is not what I’d imagined it’d be. I think as I grew older, I grew more aware of the world around me and saw just how cruel and beautiful it can be on one extreme or the other. A younger me only hoped to continue living life fiercely and intensely asking all of the questions that popped into my head, only this time I would be an adult, and maybe I would be able to answer my own questions and have more independence to seek those answers elsewhere. My childhood’s biggest question was: “What’s next?” I easily became fascinated with different topics, subjects, and interests and would often go into rabbit holes investigating them. I read books and I scrolled the internet tirelessly. It was the same for any book series I became obsessed with. If I started reading one book, I had to immediately read the next one and so on and so on. My childhood was a never ending cycle of asking what’s next to read, what more is there to learn??

When Did You First Feel Like An Adult?

Once I entered college and I had to accept my learning journey as my own, I became an adult. I knew that I would now have to be responsible for choosing the classes I would have to take, for the time and effort I would dedicate to my classes, navigating financial aid and college logistics alone. I became an adult when I actively looked for opportunities to better and grow on a professional, academic, and personal level.?

What Motivates You At Work?

Being able to interact and engage with people that offer diverse perspectives, values and stories. It has been a gratifying experience to be able to learn from the GWN team and have conversations about the new ways in which we can help mentees and mentors discover the limitless possibilities of storytelling and creative expression.

What’s the Best Career Decision You’ve Ever Made??

The best career decision I made was granting myself grace and time to figure out my next steps in my career journey. After graduating from college, I had a wide range of interests and I did not know where to direct my career towards. Though I felt frustrated during this time of confusion and hesitation, thanks to the love and support from those around me, I gave myself time to explore these interests and discover what I truly wanted to do for a living. I had the privilege of volunteering at a place I always wanted to be a part of and this experience has ultimately helped clarify my career goals and aspirations.