Page 7 - When I Was... a Girl by Oliwia Penkala

Foreword When I Was… a Girl was Oliwia Penkala’s entry for the all-Poland writing contest “Day by Day” organized by Glossa – School of Foreign Languages, based in Cracow. The story begins with an equally funny and dramatic scene where a teenage boy is waking up to an unknown and ridiculously pink room. To make matters worse, it’s not the colour of the walls he should be worried about but the fact that he has somehow become... a girl. This unexpected change is an excellent opportunity for the author to explore the differences in boys’ and girls’ minds, behaviours and choices but perhaps not so excellent for an overconfident boy to experience. Oliwia Penkala, the author of the story and a student at Wojciech Korfanty 2nd High School in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Poland, says that she loves writing and she writes to show others her world. So far she has written several young adult novels and published them on her website. In 2013 she also wrote “A Soldier’s Daughter”, a story published by Think English as part of Dear Diary Collection. If you are looking for a funny read, you couldn’t have chosen better. You will love the author’s light style of writing as well as the cast of hilarious characters faced with unexpected situations she created in the story. – Ryszard Oślizło An English Teacher at Wojciech Korfanty 2nd High School 7