There is no limit on how early you can start pursuing your dreams. That has been the case for Sarah Vessely and her passion for literature.
Vessely is currently a student at Valparaiso High School. Her book “Jesus, It’s You” was published in January.
“It’s about putting Jesus first and how to find your purpose in life,” Vessely said. “The book is aimed toward teenage girls because the book is like a conversation that teenagers would have. It was the first thing that came to my mind. I sat down and thought about what I am most passionate about. From there, I wrote until I was satisfied and felt that I had everything I wanted to say.”
The book contains a plethora of Vessely’s best and worst moments along with what she has learned growing up as a teenager in today’s world. In her writing, Vessely brings attention to the choices we have in life, such as following Jesus.
This passion helped steer Vessely into sharing her experiences with the world. While she is still in high school, she has already embraced taking her writing to the next level as a published author.
“On New Year’s Eve, my dad was asking what our goals were for the upcoming year,” Vessely said. “I jokingly told him that I was going to write a book. That night, I wrote the whole first chapter and that’s when I knew that I actually had something. Being a published author is something that I never thought would happen. I have always loved to read and thought it would be cool to have my own book. I wish that I could go back to my younger self and tell her what would be happening right now.”
While her family has helped inspire Vessely, she also acknowledges that she wouldn’t have been able to make this happen without her mentors.
“The mentors in my life have influenced me so much,” Vessely said. “My main mentor in my life is Stephanie Jones. She’s a local author here in Valparaiso. She took me under her wing throughout this whole process.”
Vessely has also developed a connection with her main mentor through work and helps run social media accounts for Jones.
As a young author, Vessely has been appreciative of the Valparaiso community supporting her along this journey. Her ultimate goal was to impact at least one person, but she has received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback.
There are a number of other activities that Vessely partakes in outside of school, work and writing. This includes listening to music, watching movies and reading her Bible.
However, the biggest piece of advice Vessely has for people who want to become an author at a young age is to take initiative and go for it.
“My best advice would be to just start writing,” Vessely said. “After you finish writing and begin the process of editing, designing and publishing, make sure you remember why you started. You have to make a lot of decisions and go through parts of the process that you aren’t going to like. When I started to feel overwhelmed, I would remember why I started and who I was writing the book for.”
You can purchase ”Jesus, It’s You” on Amazon now to learn more about her experience with Jesus.