For senior Raj Sheth, poetry was yet another tedious assignment in middle school due to the long hours of reading poetry, which continued to bore both him and his classmates.

Raj was born on Halloween in 2003 in Hayward, CA. As he continued to grow, he realized that he struggled in English. Writing essays seemed time-consuming and he despised it. However, Raj soon realized that there was  great beauty in poetry and the more he pursued it, the more he found it elegant. Eventually his love for poetry was recognized and he began to get started on working on his book, My Midnight Epiphanies.

Over a six-month period he wrote daily entries featuring a new poem, short story, or quote. Two-thirds of the way through the book, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, ruining family’s lifestyles. After watching the struggles that people were going through, he , “knew that I couldn’t sit at home and wait for somebody else to solve them.” On July 14, 2020, My Midnight Epiphanies was officially released and soon after that, Raj directed his revenue towards COVID-19 relief funds.

Many times while writing the book, he doubted the book’s ability for success. Sometimes his daily entries seemed to him as mad, but he continued to persist, and as a result of this, someone’s life has been spared with his revenue. But he believed in himself and kept saying, “Gathering the courage to start is half the battle in any endeavor.” Raj is extremely glad that he has brought smiles to people’s faces, and the feeling that he has acquired through this, is something he will never give up. He says, “I am glad everything worked out even though there were certain times throughout that I doubted the book’s potential to succeed.”

Now, Raj continues to post his poetry on his Instagram page (@word_weasel), but doesn’t plan to make another publication for the time being. However, he continues to donate funds to humanitarian organizations as much as possible. In conclusion, Raj’s story is one of resilience and benevolence.