Reality: grasping a hold of my path

I am an 18-year-old senior in high school and now is the time when I need to focus of the path necessary to reach my goal. I have finally finished the "final" first draft of my novel, currently titled, Poison. I have been taking notes on what I still need to add to my story or what I need to rewrite, reword, rephrase until I am 100% satisfied with my novel.

Today, I went into my English class early because I was feeling a bit antisocial. I started to jot down some notes in my note book when my English teacher asked me what I was doing. Her thought was that I was writing poetry (I was in The Dead Poets Society with her the year before) I was embarrassed, but I explained what I was doing; it was the best mistake I have ever made.

Being a writer who is currently struggling with publishing, she gave me some advise and some warning, She gave me a web site to look into for when I am ready to find an agent and she warned me that the road she is on right now is a rocky road. I knew all of this before, but hearing it from her made my worry double, but I see it as surgery; I must undergo exposing myself and feeling pain so that I can grow and become better than I was. It is a price I must pay if I want to live with my full potential.

She has helped give me confidence, she believes in me. I am motivated to work harder on my book now and yes I know it will be a sickening journey to publication, but I am not alone.