[Y]oung Writers Project, an independent nonprofit based in Burlington, engages young people to write and use digital media to express themselves with clarity and power, and to gain confidence and skills for school, the workplace and life.
Check out the most recent issue of The Voice, Young Writers Project’s monthly digital magazine. Click here.
Each week, VTDigger features a writing submission – an essay, poem, fiction or nonfiction – accompanied by a photo or illustration from Young Writers Project. YWP publishes about 1,000 students’ work each year here, in newspapers across Vermont, on Vermont Public Radio and in YWP’s monthly digital magazine, The Voice. Since 2006, it has offered young people a place to write, share their photos, art, audio and video, and to explore and connect online at youngwritersproject.org. For more information, please contact Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersproject.org.
Digital art of female
Digital art by Vivien Sorce of Hinesburg/YWP Media Library

This year’s ball drop marked the beginning of another new year… and a new decade, too: an unparalleled time to dream about the future ahead of us. Post Mills poet Piper Leibon, this week’s featured writer, mulls over the personal values she holds closest to her heart and the experiences she wishes to have someday. 

Tomorrow

By Piper Leibon, 13

Tomorrow I hope my mind doesn’t stray away and find a place to trap my thoughts.
Tomorrow I hope to have fun, to find joy and excitement.
Tomorrow I hope I can find time to relax, to let my soul run wild.
Tomorrow I hope my dog brings me comfort and curls up by my side.
Tomorrow I hope I can find time to read, to send myself to the world of books.
Tomorrow I hope to write, to let my hands choose what to say.
Tomorrow I hope to see my friends, to let their voices flow through my mind.
Tomorrow I hope to play basketball, to let my feet carry me in the patterns they find so familiar. 
Tomorrow I hope to draw, to let my hands show my eyes what to see.
Tomorrow I hope to sing, to let my voice travel the world through music.
Tomorrow I hope to be present in the world, to be seen and heard.  
Tomorrow I hope to feel no stress, to let my mind be free of all boundaries. 
Tomorrow I hope for more good things than bad, to feel better instead of worse.
Tomorrow I hope for warmth and kindness, to bring me joy.
Tomorrow I hope to be with my family, to feel as safe as ever.
Tomorrow I hope to have things to be grateful for, to bring me happiness.

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