Lauryn Woods, a senior from Cathedral High School,  is adding to her newest life adventure story. “Everywhere I go I carry a notebook along with a pen,” Woods said.

The overwhelming feeling of too many people in one place overcrowds a mind and calls for an escape. For Lauryn Olivia Woods, her creative outlet was writing, which she was able to use to channel her emotions.

The seventeen-year-old writer, at the time, was a soon to be senior attending Cathedral High School. “Writing calms me down. I can escape reality. I go to a Catholic school but I write mostly about the mafia, gangs, and Hell,” Woods said.  

She has written stories that one would never imagine to come from the pen of a Catholic student. She envisioned her writing to one day appears in horror films, which also remains a major interest of hers.  

“If you’re like me and you don’t like reading. I’d much rather see myself or my stories on a screen which is more accessible to the public. Although I like keeping my stories private, sometimes I feel the need to share them to help people know they’re not alone, ” Woods said. 

Her stories are quite unique and exaggerated in the way that they could be real but are more of an extended version of a creepy life.  “As I got older and learned about the real world and how bad it is, I wanted to express the bad stuff and create my own world in a different way using the same ideas,” Woods said. 

A certain story of hers, about a runaway girl, relates to Lauryn in the way that she is always on the move. She has traveled to many states and countries from neighboring Ohio to cruising in Jamaica. 

Her stories and her travels have led her to the decision to pursue social work due to her personal and parental issues. She sought to help kids who feel alone and who could potentially see themselves in her writing. Ironically as a self-proclaimed writer, she has been a photographer for the yearbook this past year which has helped her explore the visual aspect of her art.