About Me-Alexandria Roswick

“If you want to know where to find your contribution to the world, look at your wounds. When you learn how to heal them, teach others” -Emily Maroutian

By Alexandria RoswickPublished 2 years ago • 5 min read

TW: Sexual violence

Hello there! My name is Alexandria.

Thank you for stopping by to read a little bit about me.

I write about trauma and recovery as well as critical analysis of media, culture, and politics.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’m unapologetically one of those angry intersectional feminists who never shuts up about all of the problems.

I am a survivor of sexual violence and an advocate for other victims of injustice.

I have ADHD. Throughout most of my life, I was undiagnosed and unaware.

For that reason, and several others, I never finished my degree. Nonetheless, I am just as much of a writer as anyone else with a pen and a voice.

That being said, writing is often difficult for my brain. Yet, it brings me joy.

More importantly, writing EMPOWERS me.

I’m addicted to the feeling of constant self-improvement that writing provides. What motivates me to keep writing is the anticipation of knowing that my next piece is going to be even better than my last…

…and that my words could possibly help someone.

Because the written words of others are (partially) why I am still alive today. It’s my turn to contribute.

I’m loving this personal journey, and I’m honored to share it with people who are willing to take time out of their day to read my thoughts.

Writing Journey

I’ve loved writing since I was a small child illustrating picture books with stick figures and anecdotal captions. Soon the captions turned into chapters, chapters turned into short stories, and short stories turned into a full series.

In elementary school, I would pretend to take notes as I furiously scribbled away in my notebook about some spunky redhead from a magical faraway land. Worldbuilding and storytelling became my escape from the monotony of spelling tests and multiplication tables.

As I transitioned into an angsty, sexually frustrated teenager, I stopped writing fiction. At this point in my life, catharsis was imperative. I didn’t have the courage to voice my malcontented emotions, so I found comfort in jotting them down in my diary.

Then, in high school, my thoughts became too dejected to face on paper. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was grappling with the built-up stigma of undiagnosed ADHD.

The lack of neurodivergent awareness in education at the time caused me to believe that I was incapable of accomplishing or creating anything of quality. Self-doubt stunted my motivation.

I completely gave up on writing for many years.

After I graduated, I went through various phases where I tried to get myself back into a consistent journaling routine, but it never worked out. I didn’t see the point, because I didn’t believe I had any talent.

It wasn’t until after I’d experienced several traumatic events that I felt called to bring writing back into my life. I discovered the power of journaling through the pain in order to cope.

In April of 2020, I published a personal essay on social media detailing my relationship with sexual violence and emotional abuse as a woman in her early twenties. It began as a therapeutic journal entry and evolved into something greater than I ever could have imagined.

After this essay, I received many messages from other survivors letting me know that my words had somehow made a difference to them. This is what drove me to keep going.

I was finally beginning to feel capable, so I continued to write.

In January of 2021, I created my blog, Eternal Metamorphosis, which is a collection of many personal essays, some confessional poetry, and the stories of other survivors.

Around the same time, I created a Medium account. I started as a reader until I slowly built up the confidence to share some of the essays from my blog.

My desire to grow as a writer intensified as I explored the writing community here on Medium. A few months ago, I even found the audacity to submit my work to several publications. I was utterly shocked by the handful of acceptance emails I received.

After everything I’d overcome in the past year, this proof of my potential was everything I needed to squash my nonsensical insecurities.

With this newfound self-belief, I allowed myself to take the chicken-scratch musings that once collected dust in my drafts and developed them into completed works of art.

I started out writing mainly about relationships, abuse, and trauma recovery. But, as I began to find my footing in my cozy little corner of the internet, I realized that there were many other topics I longed to explore.

There was so much I never said…

I could hear the faint shrieking of my inner teenage self begging me to stop holding back. I decided there was no reason I couldn’t write about anything.

Medium has granted me an opportunity to branch out as far as I’d like to venture, which has ultimately forced me into an array of new perspectives. I truly appreciate how limitless it feels.

Along my journey, I’ve chiseled out my own unique approach to combine the fun with the serious and the heavy with the light. I’m still at the humble beginning of my writing career, but I find that to be all the more exciting.

I can’t wait to find out what else this journey has in store for me.

My Purpose

I would not have had the temerity to write and post my story on social media if it were not for the powerful words of other survivors before me who have come forward.

The combined strength of these victims allowed me the permission that I’d rarely given myself to stand up and publicly acknowledge that what happened to me was unequivocally wrong.

I realized that just as the stories of others had helped me to find courage, my story could give another survivor the same spark.

This is why I rarely keep things to myself anymore.

After posting my personal essay in April, my sister and I were served with two civil complaints regarding defamation and slander. We trudged through the exhausting litigation process from August of 2020 until January of this year.

I’ve always been somewhat vocal about injustices, but this occurrence lit a fire underneath me. Since then, I’ve channeled my passion for writing into advocacy.

My intended purpose as a writer is to help other victims feel empowered in a way that is unique to their stories. I also hope to expose a new perspective to people who may not fully understand the best ways to show up for the victims in their lives.

It’s unfortunate and said often, but every woman I know has a story like mine. And it’s not just women!

Overall, through anything that I publish, my hope is to broaden minds, and encourage compassion, understanding, and ACTION.

My Joys

I lived in New Hampshire my entire life up until about a year ago when I moved to Northern Colorado.

Even more recently, I moved into a cozy apartment with my boyfriend in a tiny town in northern Wyoming. We’re right next door to Yellowstone and Boysen State Park. The views here are like nothing I’ve ever seen before!