Junior Workshop Highlights

The project: A children’s book, Daisy and Her Butterflies, exploring the intersection of performance anxiety in sports through a child’s lens.

The inspiration: From the moment when Junior Workshop was introduced, I knew I wanted to focus on a few of my favorite things: soccer, children, art and bunnies. I believe my success is due to the fact that I was constantly surrounded by my biggest passions, and that I wholeheartedly fell in love with the process as I did the project. The most rewarding part of the process was reading [the finished book] to the children— they were always my inspiration, and I was so glad I was able to give something back to them.

The process: My desired outcome of the project was very ambitious: to author and illustrate my own children's book exploring the intersection of performance anxiety in sports through a child's lens. But I was ready for a challenge! 

I started by gathering research about the psychology of children specifically in relation to athletics. This branch is known as Performance (“Sports”) Anxiety. From there, I branched out into the more specifics, getting in touch with professionals. I set up a bunch of interviews, speaking with a sports psychologist, two mental performance coaches, the Lower School Counselor at Calhoun, and even a published author. 

This information set me up for great success when I started writing the storyline. I storyboarded all the pages before getting to work [drawing] digitally on my iPad. In the morning, between classes and late at night, you could catch me illustrating the pictures. Once the story was finished (after being revised many, many times) I worked to get it printed out, and presented it to Lower School students. I am so thrilled with the finished product. 

What I learned: Junior Workshop as an opportunity is so valuable; you get to spend three months on a project you deeply love. In the beginning we were told “you get out of this experience what you put into it” and that certainly happened. I poured my heart and soul into this project and was rewarded with an excellent project. 

What's next? My project is definitely still in the works! Though I have a finished story, I would love for it to be published and shared with the wider world. This summer, I plan to collaborate with an organization called Female Footballers, where I will write a blog post to showcase my work. They will also help promote it on their Instagram! I also would like to find a way to get it published, but that seems like it’s a little further in the future. I am still very excited for the next steps.