Jaiden Herzog, Staff Writer - The Mustang Messenger
With a strong sense of faith and social justice, Jaiden Alexis Herzog is a compassionate and empathetic person that hopes to use her writing and journalism skills to become a psychologist. Her dream is to help children and marriages become better and stronger.
Herzog is a 14-year-old freshman at McCracken County High School. She is a born and raised Kentuckian that has lived in Paducah her whole life. Herzog perfectly represents someone who is resourceful and clever. Her intelligence and kindness are her best qualities and she is genuinely an authentic and affectionate person.
Herzog discovered her admiration for writing and journalism when she was in the 7th grade during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. She explained that she felt isolated and despondent from the lack of social interaction. In the midst of trying to find a way to express her feelings of loneliness, Herzog turned to writing as an avenue to vent about her feelings.
Herzog takes her past experiences and turns those moments into characters in her writing using symbolism. Through thinking about every aspect of the experience, she is able to process that aspect of her life. She asks herself, “Who was in it and what are the big things that stick out in particular?” Herzog says that it is easier to write rather than verbally talk about her feelings. She believes that writing helps aid her in processing her emotions.
Herzog prefers to write articles and academic essays about serious and important topics such as social injustice issues or mental health issues. She is phenomenal at elaborating on issues and problems that don’t get discussed often and bringing awareness to issues that have gone unnoticed. She gives these issues a spotlight.
Herzog’s faith in Christianity has helped her become a better writer as she believes that her faith is like a pair of glasses, as in she sees the world through the eyes of her Christian faith. Her Christintaiy is what makes her want to talk about social injustice issues. She simply wants to spread kindness and bring awareness to the problems that are infecting our world.
