When I was ten years old, my fifth-grade teacher beckoned me across the classroom to come to his desk in the back. I could see my bright pink journal in his hand, and a slight frown was nestled beneath his graying mustache.

Mr. Luhnow, who to this day is still one of my favorite teachers, opened my journal to that morning’s entry as I approached his desk. With a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes, he told me in his low, commanding voice that plagiarism was very serious and that I shouldn’t copy someone else’s work to pass off as my own.

Baffled and already near tears (I don’t do well with authority figures, never have), I frantically assured him that I would never copy someone’s work, and the story I had written for that day’s journal entry was entirely my own. There was a brief, pregnant pause of disbelief before Mr. Luhnow apologized and told me he had assumed I had copied the passage from a book because he couldn’t believe a ten year old had written it. His expression immediately relaxed and he handed me my bright pink journal back with strict instructions to continue the story from that morning so he could find out what happened next. To this day, I’m not sure if the accusation was genuine or a semi-sarcastic remark meant to bolster a 10 year-old’s ego. Given Mr. Luhnow’s kind disposition and encouraging nature, I’m inclined to think it’s the latter. But either way, it sparked something in me; the love of sharing stories.

After graduating from Northeastern University with a degree in Marketing and Communication Studies, I turned my writing skills into a career in the tech industry. From an eight-person startup to a 350-member SaaS organization, I’ve written articles, eBooks, whitepapers, blog posts, and more for these software companies. Through this avenue of writing, I’ve had articles featured in massive online publications such as Total Retail, Auto Dealer Today, Destination CRM, Code Like a Girl, and more.

So even though that pink journal is long gone, Iost somewhere in the midst of cross-country moves and a decade of closet cleanouts, I’m still holding on to that wonderful feeling that came from sharing a story with somebody that they enjoyed. From that moment onward, I knew that no matter where life took me, I would always have a love for storytelling. And a healthy fear of plagiarism.