Students at Wakefield love to express themselves in many different ways. One such way is spoken word: the act of performing one’s thoughts through poetry. Students are able to express their feelings through stories that are more than just words. The North Carolina Museum of Arts recently held a Spoken Word Contest, where people from Wakefield and other local schools gathered around to listen to these stories. 

Josie Geolas, a junior at Wakefield High School, won this year’s contest with her poem, “Milk Carton Missing.” She tells her own story about her experiences growing up. 

“[My poem was about] girls who are transitioning from being a preteenager to being an actual teenager,” Geolas said. “How it differs from the typical experience [to] out there in the media.” 

Her primary inspiration was to show those who relate to her message about growing up that they are not alone. Geolas also describes what got her into Spoken Word. 

“I do have a 7500-word document on my phone of poems that I’ve written since I was 12, just for fun,” Geolas said. “I saw a contest and I was like, ‘why not?’” 

Along with the winner, Wakefield also had amazing finalists who showed their hard work in this contest. Kelsey Rutter, a junior at Wakefield, was in the top finalists for her poem, “Wonderland Within Me.” 

“This poem was written for anyone who has ever felt like they weren’t enough,” Rutter said. “I wanted them to know they aren’t alone.” 

The meaning behind this poem can be hard to speak about, especially if it reflects a difficult part of one’s life. It can also make you see what you are worth. 

“I’ve come to realize my worth isn’t defined by someone else’s inability to love me the right way,” Rutter said. 

These poems not only help tell a story, but show someone’s experience on a certain life event. Junior Nicholas Johnson made finalist with his poem named, “Should Have Died.” His poem described how he overcame a traumatic experience. 

“I was trying to tell the story of when I got into a car accident a few months prior,” Johnson said. “It was very scary, but the experience made me realize that I was saved that day by Jesus Christ.” 

For stories like these, it could be hard to even tell them. People are forced to relive the memories that they never wanted to. Johnson describes his own experience with this. 

“It was incredibly scary and I had to put myself back into the same shoes I was in then to sort of relive what happened,” Johnson said. 

Being able to communicate with poetry helps convey one’s true feelings about a certain topic. Alberto Hernandez-Galguera, a senior at Wakefield High School, enjoys poetry and believes it’s an important form of communication.

“Being able to express yourself better while communicating with people allows us to understand each other better,” Hernandez-Galguera said.  

If someone is ever considering writing a poem and sharing it as spoken word, Rutter believes it can have an important impact.

“For anyone debating whether to share their words with the world—do it,” Rutter said. “Someone out there needs to hear what you have to say.”