Creativity, Inc. Nivedita Nimmagadda

In fourth grade, I invented the “Swiss Army Cook” for the Invention Convention. In fifth grade, I hand wrote and drew entire magazine issues, scanned them, and sent them to all my friends and relatives for 50 with the hope of becoming the next National Geographic Kids. In eighth grade, I designed Harry Potter T-shirts and bookmarks and raised over 30,000 for a homeless shelter. I’ve been creative since I was a kid, looking for the next big challenge to conquer and constantly seeking new ideas to implement. Out of all of my creative outlets over the years, the one that urges me to push the boundaries and take risks is writing poetry.

Before 10th grade, the only experience I had with poetry was the acrostic poems I wrote as a kid for English class and the occasional Rupi Kaur poem that popped up on my Instagram. In my head, being a writer means being introverted, calm, and poised. All traits which I lacked. But, I began writing poetry as an emotional outlet. I wrote about mental health, social justice issues, and I even wrote a poem about the circus. One day I made the bold choice of putting it on Hello Poetry and Mogul under a pen-name. I started amassing thousands of views on both platforms. Though the attention was certainly...