Alyssa asked Vironika Tugaleva:

When did you realize you liked writing?

Vironika Tugaleva I realized I needed it before I realized I liked it, to tell you the truth. As a child, I had no one to whom I could genuinely express myself. I was an only child and my parents were poor immigrants both trying to get their medical qualifications back in a new country. No one had time to listen to my thoughts, not even my peers, because I was awkward and self-conscious. All of my emotional energy would build up, and as early as about 10-11 years old, I was journaling and writing poetry. When I started showing my writing in school, and people reacted positively, it felt good, but I didn't realize that writing was a skill for a long time. I thought it was simply a survival mechanism that kept my thoughts from throttling me. I know now that writing, to me, is just like speaking. It's how I process, how I express myself, how I make any sense of my life. It's a life necessity.

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