About Me — Avigail Laing

The events that led me to discover my passion for personal growth as a high schooler and create my own Medium publication

I had a rough first semester of high school.

I was homeschooled until fifth grade when my parents transitioned me into the public school system.

My peers were first acquainted with me in 2017 when I stumbled through the doors of Blue Grass Elementary School, wide-eyed and in absolute awe of my surroundings. I was proudly wearing the outfit my mom had chosen for me the night before: an impossible-to-not-notice t-shirt with a bright golden star made of sequins in the center, and a little pair of grey leggings speckled with metallic golden polka-dots.

It was a big moment for me. Up until that moment, I had always stared at the schools we passed by in the car and driven myself crazy coming up with theories as to what it was like inside one.

As information about new kids usually does, the word of my homeschooled background spread quickly. With the exception of the few friends I had, I barely spoke a word to anyone that year due to my lack of social skills, which is why many were shocked when I stepped up to a microphone in the gym one day in front of the entire school and won the school-wide spelling bee, taking the title of first place from Blue Grass Elementary School’s prized speller, who had won the spelling bee consistently every year and had naturally been expected to win that year as well. (To be honest, I still feel guilty about it.)

They would continue to know me as the girl who scored 100s on every math test, the girl who scored a 31 on the ACT as a seventh-grader, and the girl who was voted “Most Studious” in eighth grade.

Despite my academic achievements, all through middle school I struggled with self-esteem. I wanted to be “cool”. I wanted people to want to talk to me. But the truth of the matter was that I had always and would always stand out too much. (Don’t worry, I’ve now learned that standing out can be a good thing.)

Friends came and left through the years, but after an unfortunate turn of events, I ended up entering high school with none. All of my worst teenage fears became my reality when my best friend (well, only friend) at the time ended up finding new friends within the first week of high school, leaving me with, well, no one.

Panicked by this new and horrible feeling of total isolation, I scrambled to make new friends, but no one seemed to share my interests, goals, or values. Simply put, people just didn’t get me. So, I spent my first semester of high school lonely and miserable, eating lunch alone every day.

I could have just lived the rest of my life in self-pity, but that wouldn’t be a very interesting story to read, so when January of 2021 came, I decided to turn my life around.

I stopped chasing approval and started working on myself. I decided that I was going to live a life of joy and fulfillment, whether others supported me or not.

So after months of working on myself and figuring out who I am and who I want to be, I am here writing this article to let the world know who I am.

I’m Avigail Laing, a high schooler chronicling her journey to becoming the best version of herself by writing articles centered around personal growth, productivity, mindset, confidence, interpersonal skills, and pretty much anything else related to leveling up in life.

Through my writing, I hope to connect with others who share the same desire to take their life to another level and help people create the life of their dreams, one article at a time.

However, I want to share more than just my journey of personal growth with the world, which is why I recently created my first publication, The Personal Growth Project. The Personal Growth Project will be a supportive community of readers and writers dedicated to sharing their tips, advice, and stories related to personal growth.

Sidenote: if you’re interested in helping me out with my publication and being one of the first contributors to The Personal Growth Project, just comment your Medium username under this article and I’ll add you as a writer!

It has been so nice getting to introduce myself to everyone, and I can’t wait to connect with you all and support your writing!