Allison Mao’s journey through writing and how she wrote her future in nursing
Staff Writer
In high school, students have all sorts of influences and methods on discovering their future goals, but who would have assumed that writing could lead to a passion for nursing? Allison Mao (12) did; in writing her creative stories, she discovered a connection between human health and how writing improves mental well being. In describing her writing, Mao said, “[I love] to create my own characters and stories. The more intricate I can develop a world, the better. I enjoy fiction and fantasy because it allows us to create our very own worlds with politics, cultures, cuisines, geographies, [and more]. Living through daily life is full of interesting moments, as you can connect events that happened in real life to your own fantasy worlds to make them feel more realistic.”
Mao’s creativity not only influenced her, but made a positive impact on her longtime childhood friends and family along the way. Childhood friend Zoe Wong (12) said, “Allison was a writer even as a kid. She often showed me and our friends her works, and there’d be both comic and written forms of them. I wasn’t into anything as a kid, maybe except reading, so she was my gateway into storytelling, comics, and art in general. She drew a lot and took inspiration from many sources that she recommended to me and after that, I started looking for things on my own too. Since then, stories and art have been a huge part of my life.” From the simplicity of writing, Mao was able to inspire her best friend into finding comfort through stories as well, and Wong said, “[writing] was the only way I could [deal] with academic pressure which was the only ‘important’ thing in my life [at the time].”
Her pursuit in writing made a great impact on the friends and family in her life, and her positive impact revealed her potential in nursing. Mao’s mother, Haixia Long, said, “Allison is always positive, caring, observant, and ready to help other people while maintaining clear boundaries. She’s a learner and a good listener. She likes to write and to study people and she got inspired by Josephine’s workshop. My friend Josephine works as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, serving people with mental challenges. Also, we have a pet: when he had respiratory issues, Allison searched online and found a pet clinic and pressed parents to proceed with the visit. She accompanied the turtle on the visit: he got a shot and was healed. This is a memorable moment as he was able to get healed on time.”
As she explained her background in writing, Mao said “All throughout my life, I’ve been enraptured by stories. I vividly remember getting lost in fantasy worlds for hours, writing dozens of my own stories, [and] trying to bring my creations to life.” (Photo Credit: Allison Mao (12)).
Mao’s brother, Marvin Mao (10) said, “Spending my whole life with Allison as her brother, I’ve come to notice many of her strong personality traits and abilities that are a great fit for being in the nursing field. Her experience in tutoring and tolerating a sibling both make for an impressive patience level would strongly translate to a good career. As a dedicated and flexible person with social mastery excellent for nursing, Allison already shows promising potential to be a great contributor in such an integral profession.”
Mao found comfort in stories, and she noticed that others started to notice the effects that stories had on her health. She said, “Stories can be healing, too. People are often surprised by my optimism during difficult times: reading always cheers me up, but writing original works truly elevates my mental health.”
At this moment, she started to understand her passion for others’ well-being and helping them find their comfort the way she did herself. She said, “Although I’ve decided to focus on sciences and considered my career choices with financial stability in mind, I don’t believe becoming a nurse or doctor is too different from an author at all. Whether motivating an individual through the pages of a book or by their bedside, stories are all around us. After all, humans are the greatest stories of all, and every single one is precious to me.”
Mao knew that her stories helped her through tough situations, but rather than just helping herself, her compassion convinced her to help others in creative ways. She said, “Whether I feel lost or incompetent over my schoolwork or relationships, the prospect of sharing my stories in the future has compelled me to persevere beyond these barriers. I hope my works can be a great source of entertainment, bring awareness to issues, and promote the motivational and mental benefits the process of creation can bring.”
Mao’s journey through writing not only helped her make a clear path to nursing, her story shows the importance of creativity and the lessons it teaches. Mao said, “I’ve seen people learn valuable lessons through stories, and I hope to make my stories educational and meaningful as well. I believe that people who need help should seek it, as those who offer their assistance are always happy to help. Helping people always makes me happy, and becoming a nurse would be even more beneficial.”
Mao connected her ability to design characters to nursing and said, “The amount of time I spent in my fictional worlds—fleshing out character personalities, creating believable interactions, and contemplating reasonable but complex responses to difficult situations—played a large role in who I am today.” (Photo Credit: Allison Mao (12)).
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