About The Dress Code

I decided to make this twine for my QWERTY submission because this story represents the power of an individual's voice, and it displays that young people need to share their voice when faced with injustices in their community. When my school introduced an unfair school dress code, my peers immediately rose up and stood up for what they believed in. In the end, it did have an impact and the dresscode was abandoned. I think it is important to share real-life experiences through writing because it creates a bridge that allows everyone to connect and to reflect on themselves. 

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Process​

I wanted to use Twine, software for interactive storytelling, to give the audience an opportunity to experience it the way I did. I had to make many critical decisions and I had to trust that I would make the right ones. I wanted to use Twine for my QWERTY submission after learning about it at a Girls Write Now workshop earlier in the year. I enjoyed using Twine. Even though I had a plan for my story, the interactive aspect of the software gave me the ability to improvise as I went and that made it more authentic. 

The time you felt the most powerful

In the past year, we spent a lot of our time together sharing and writing about personal experiences. Writing together made us stronger as women and storytellers — we could take ownership or painful or serious experiences and change the narrative. One story we worked on was about street harassment and we developed two versions of the same stories exploring different outcomes. It felt empowering to revisit this situation in a safe space, work through the emotions, and reflect on it.