Audrey Henry, an 11th grader at Mira Costa highschool, breaks boundaries when deciding to write her very own novel only as a highschooler. Her book titled, Employed Elders, delves into the lives of around six elders who are still active in the workforce. The novel discovers how these elders were able to find meaning in their work and life in general. Audrey says the novel itself should be coming out shortly, within the next week.
“It actually should be published in the next week, so funny timing for this,” said Audrey. “I’m publishing independently and that process should be done in a couple days.”
In order for her book to be successful Audrey conducted immense preparation before beginning to write it. She did this through a series of interviews in order to gather each elder’s experiences in their personal lives and careers. She even mentions a specific interview that stood out to her and how that impacted how she wrote it into the narrative of the novel.
“I interviewed a woman who initially wanted to be a lawyer, but decided against it because female attorneys were rarely successful due to gender bias in the workforce, ” Audrey said. “Following that segment of her story, I inserted statistics about the rise of (and continuing discrimination against) female lawyers, citing resources like the American Bar Association.”
Audrey began her project during her sophomore year in highschool in a time where she herself felt lost in deciding what she wanted to do with her future. Looking into the lives of “employed elders” gave Henry that clarity as to what qualities make an impactful career.
“I gained insight into which factors made for a meaningful career, like making a tangible difference in people’s lives.”
Through her project, Audrey has connected to many senior citizens, with diverse backgrounds. She is grateful for how these conversations have guided her perspectives on life beyond her usual circle of family and friends.
“Without writing this, the only older people with whom I would have had significant conversations were family members, but my book allowed me to break out of that bubble.”
During her whole journey Audrey finds the people whose biographies are featured in her book to be her biggest motivator. She wants to make sure the time they put into sharing their stories and meeting with her is reflected within the pages of her novel.
“The biggest motivator had to be the people whose biographies are in the book,” she said. “They showed so much bravery by being open to having their life details published.”
Although there was the success of her interviews and writing the novel itself, Audrey still has had to overcome some obstacles along the way. One specific challenge being the task of condensing one’s entire life’s story into a concise format.
“The biggest challenge I’ve faced while writing this has probably been deciding what to cut and what to leave in. There was just so much information. When you think about it, breaking someone’s entire life down into 1/6 of a book is a daunting task,” said Audrey.
With publication of her book being near, Audrey is looking forward to sharing these intergenerational stories. Her work through heartfelt narrative and informative research may help one find guidance on their own path, ultimately bridging the gap between generations.
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