After a visit to High Bridge Elementary School in New Jersey, teacher Lucille Arnold shared this fifth-grade student essay with me (reprinted here with permission).  I know you will be as impressed with Maddie's ability to articulate her love of writing as I was:

Maddie Kearney                                                            March 7, 2011
ILA                                                                                Opinion Essay

          To me, one written word is worth one thousand spoken words. In a story, every word is important, every detail matters. I love to write. To me, there is no better feeling than the words you can put on paper.
          With writing, you can be so creative. There are endless possibilities with writing – there is no right answer. You can write about anything, because in writing, there are no limits. You could put a story out there with ideas no one has ever considered before. Even so, no one could write your story. You can be guided and helped, but no one can write what’s on your mind, and that’s what makes your story yours! Your story is only limited by your imagination.
          Writing is wonderful because it gives you a chance to express your feelings. Just by writing something, I could change someone’s mind. By expressing my opinions, I could put thoughts into a person’s mind that they’d never thought about. If I feel something and I don’t want to show it, I write about it. This calms me, and with my thoughts on paper, it helps me think straighter and more clearly.
          If I can’t say something, I can write it. There are some things I can’t find words for or that I can’t talk about. When words fail me, I just write. Something I could never say just flows out of me and onto paper.
          To me, one written word is worth one thousand spoken words, and like a light in the darkness, guiding you along, writing helps me and guides me through the many obstacles of life. Writing helps me to find my own path through life, no matter how hard, and that’s precisely why I love to write.