My name is Winta — And Liz Dared Me to Write this.
I still need 100 followers to meet the new deadline, and I could use your help!
Here I am writing about myself again. I fear I’m going to get too comfortable with this.
So, I’m a Saudi-reared, Ethiopian-based ̶u̶n̶e̶m̶p̶l̶o̶y̶e̶d̶ self-employed recent graduate. And I’m writing this piece in response to Liz Porter’s encouraging message to new writers on Medium.
Liz: What or who inspired you to join the platform?
I don’t remember. It was 2013, I was an angsty teenager, and I had to leave my country of residence shortly after that.
When I arrived in Ethiopia, I wanted to keep writing. But there was no Wi-Fi in the house I moved into, the Medium app consumed a lot of data-which was quite expensive back then-and the phones on which I kept my notes kept getting stolen.
Also, I know people with tighter schedules than me make time for writing. But architecture school was tough for me to adjust to, and I only intermittently published pieces when I was on campus.
But recently, I saw the Medium Writers Challenge announcement in my email. I found some intriguing entries there, wrote a few pieces myself, and was sucked back into the site again.
Liz: Is it just an experiment?
I’m yet to know the answer to that. But I’d been writing for a decade now, and I think writing here will help me be more consistent with actually putting out my work.
I fear that I’ll go from being paralyzed by perfectionism to being too insistent on consistent publishing I compromise on quality.
Liz: Do you want to earn part-time fun money, or do you need more than that?
More than that. I love living with my family. But now that I graduated from university, I finally want to start pulling my weight. And since I’m a natural introvert & nothing is encouraging me to join the local workforce, I want to be very good at working alone.
Liz: Is this going to be a part-time hobby thing or a full-time jobby thing?
Ahh, Liz. I feel like ‘full-time jobby’ will be a permanent part of my vocabulary from now on.
Liz: What do you like to write about?
Faith. That’s the topic that gives me the most joy to write about. I also write about my childhood, the human condition, and the lessons I learn while trying to find design solutions for the problems around me. I use my writing to complain too. It’s what I used to vent for years.
Liz: Who do you hope to inspire with your words?
I don’t know if I can be an inspirational figure for anyone yet. But perhaps fellow third-world graduates can go on this journey of financial freedom with me.
(And here goes what I think is one of my best stories so far: https://wintaassefa.medium.com/i-built-a-world-on-pluto-21221e451b6c)
Thanks a lot for your feedback and this exercise, Liz Porter. I wish you even more success here and beyond.
-w
