Julia Maloof: Girl on a Mission
a portrait of a teen blogger
NEIRAD enilno edition
Blogs. Most of us have seen them, heard of them, and even wondered who the face is behind the information. Darien High School has had its fair share of student bloggers, but one that seems to stand out among the student body: Girl on a Mission of ArtemisBlog.com.
Girl on a Mission is Julia Maloof, a sophomore at DHS, and she has found her place in the school. She’s been blogging since May 23, 2008 and uses her blog to express her deep feelings by writing poetry, and venting about recent news in her life. “I get to say what I want to and how I feel about it,” Julia said.
On Artemis’s Blog, Julia is able to write down whatever she wants whenever she wants to. “It was interesting,” sophomore Lili Balian said, after reading it once, “It gives Julia a great opportunity to voice her opinion.”
But that isn’t all that this blog does. It gives Julia an opportunity to talk not only about news in the world, but about news in her own life as well. In one post, Julia brings up the controversial topic of the rules of the Catholic Church. “Go to church, believe in their rules, and don’t get mad when someone tells you about one that you don't like!” Julia later added some thoughts about this particular religious posting: "The point of the post is that many people shouldn't be Christian because they don't actually agree with the church. And if you choose to be Christian, you should not get upset about their beliefs. because you chose to believe it also." Julia’s blog gives the kids of Darien and chance to see these topics and this news from another kid’s point of view, not just from a newspaper standpoint.
As well as news, Julia’s blog talks a lot about the happenings in her life. She tells stories about things that go on in her family, with her friends, and even just writes her thoughts when she can’t sleep. “Tonight is one of those nights, where I’m bored out of my mind, but not really, just restless. One of those nights where my feet need to move, where I jump every time I see a car's lights in the dark, afraid that they will stop and yank me over,” Julia posted one night at 11:34 pm.
It gives other students of Darien High School and other schools throughout the world a chance to relate to this DHS sophomore and her musings. Kids can leave comments or advice for Julia when she posts a problem, and they can voice their opinions on debates. In essence, the blog does much more than any newspaper can do. “I found it interesting to read about how other readers responded to her blog posts,” sophomore Leslie Gill, an avid reader of the blog commented. “Reading the comments was almost as intriguing as reading the actual blog.”
The readers of Julia’s blog can leave comments either supporting or negating the views expressed in Julia’s posts. “Sometimes people will comment on my blog, or talk to me about what it says,” Julia commented, “About 270 people have looked at my blog profile, so I assume that’s how many people have read the actual blog. I don’t really care about how many people look at it though, it’s more for me.”
Julia’s blog gives kids a chance to peacefully and intellectually debate each other, and it gives her a chance to enjoy herself through writing.
Julia loves her blog because of the freedom she has when she writes in it. “It voices the way I see things,” she said, “And hopefully somebody can read it and gather an opinion of their own!” Julia is able to say what she wants to say without having people argue with her, and she likes that. She doesn’t have to be told whether or not she’s right or wrong because of the options that blogging gives her. “Not everything I write on the blog is the perfect answer and everything that I write is debatable,” Julia commented, “I like [blogging] because I can just talk about my life and problems and things that I do!”
