"What's with the name?"

This is a question I usually get whenever someone encounters my screen name. And every time, I always hesitate in giving the reason behind the name, afraid that people might find it cheesy.

Hi! I'm Anna, and I simply believe that there is a part of me in everything that I write. Every page that I write is a product of all the thoughts, principles, experiences, and perspectives that I have. Hence, annepage.

When I was in my second year of high school, our teacher told us to make a poem about our mothers. I can no longer remember the things I've written in my poem but I do remember the gist of the last line:

Despite all the mistakes I've made and all my shortcomings in life,
I promise to become a good person.

I was actually shocked that out of all the poems, mine was chosen. And much to my surprise, our teacher asked me to print it! (I'm not sure whether it's because it was handwritten or my penmanship is horrible) She told me that she will submit it to our school's publication. It was a very heart-warming experience knowing that someone was touched by my poem. That is what inspired me to write.

From then on, I've written poems after poems, mainly about my thoughts and emotions. I was in my adolescent years so I couldn't help it. (Hahahaha) I had my first love at that time and I was so engrossed with my feelings that I actually wrote a story about what happened! (real-life events) Yeah, I know. It still makes me cringe whenever I'm reminded of it. And to top it all off, I was crazy enough to let my friends read it! (Hahahaha) I intended to let only my best friend to read it but unfortunately, my best friend's friends were able to get a hold of my notebook and read it.

Not long after that, almost half of the class knew my love story. (Jeez! Thanks for advertising my story guys) But the bright side of it all was that everyone liked my story! They said it was so interesting and so real that it was like they actually witnessed the events. It awakened something in me...the passion in writing.

It has always been my life's goal to be able to touch lives and make a difference. Writing is one of my greatest means of achieving this enormous goal. I write in order to connect to people and make them feel that they are not alone. I write about ideas, emotions, experiences, and life lessons in order for people to learn from it. As Rick Warren said,
"While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others."
We don't have enough time and enough resources to experience everything.

Life gets harder each day and the world is becoming more chaotic. Nowadays, it is so rare to find genuine people and give trust. But if you wanna know me, need not to worry. Because you can always find a piece of me in every page that I write.