Why I Wrote The ATLAS Project

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 The ATLAS Project was never meant to be a post-apocalyptic commentary on inequality and classism. At its onset, it was just three unique storylines: a boy that gets jumped in an alley, a teenage mother, and a utopian society. 

I was definitely a pantser over a plotter then.

I wrote the first pages of The ATLAS Project on my phone while sitting in a car waiting for a family member to get out of the bathroom at Taco Bell (No, seriously!). I had time to kill, so I began Barin's story. 

I had no plan beyond a boy and his bullies. I was reading The Outsiders with my eighth-grade students at the time, and I was as inspired by Ponyboy then as I had been in my youth. 

A few months later, I considered writing about a teenage mother's hardships and difficult circumstances. 

So I wrote Kristy's story. 

I read The Giver with my seventh-grade students, and we delved into the importance of originality, differences, and choices. The Giver Quartet still tops the list of my favorite books of all time. Through that inspiration, the utopian society of ATLAS was born. 

So is that it? Is nothing original anymore? Is my book nothing more than if The Outsiders and The Giver had a baby? 

No. 

In many places, Barin's story is my story. I leaned on my experiences of a child growing up poor and the near-miraculous fact that I received a full-ride scholarship to attend college. 

But what if that hadn't happened? I was 0.1 GPA points from not qualifying for my academic scholarship. If I had gotten one A- in high school, I would not have had a scholarship that covered my dorm room my first year. My need to have perfect grades affected my choices in high school. Because I knew I needed to earn a scholarship, I was too afraid to take electives that I would have loved but was afraid to fail (interior design and sewing).

I earned the scholarship. I got my degree. College opened doors that I would not have had otherwise, but I was lucky. Inequality abounds in our education system, and is far too common that those who need the most resources receive the least in terms of college preparation and support. 

After college, my experiences shaped my teaching. After learning of my students' difficult home lives, I chose not to assign homework. I didn't punish students for late work. 

But it wasn't enough. It was never enough.

Students need far more societal support than one English teacher can give them. It's hard to focus on literary devices or thesis statements if you are hungry or tired or bullied for your worn-out clothing. 

So The ATLAS Project is a commentary on equality and the need to support one another. Like all problems, poverty and the need for equal opportunity is a multi-faceted issue and difficult to change. 

I do not claim to have the answers to these long and deep-rooted problems. 

But perhaps my voice--as small and unassuming as it is--will be a drop in what one day becomes a tidal wave of change. 

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