When looking at an essay written by Lauren Kimbell you wouldn’t even be able to know her inspiring story behind the letters. 

“I was in 5th grade when I started to write upside down. It started with me just tilting my paper and by the end of 5th grade my paper was fully upside down,” Lauren said. 

Since she has written upside down for a little over four years it has become a natural habit.

“I write upside down 100% of the time” Lauren states.

And this is how; with the page turned upside down she starts writing the characters upside down from right to left, with her left hand. After flipping the page back the right side up it is perfectly legible.

With writing in such a different way compared to typical students, you would think that this can come with some conflict. Although one of her close friends, Ashley Boy feels that

“The only issue she has had with writing upside down is getting in trouble with teachers. Some teachers assume she is cheating,” Jameson said.

“Lauren’s upside down writing does not interfere with her productivity at all. This unique strategy is a way of adapting to writing with her left hand and now she always writes this way,” Bowie teacher, Jameson Roberts said.

While there are many downsides to writing upside down, there are also many benefits that people who write traditionally never experience. 

“From my experience, writing upside down has trained my brain to work harder and become stronger.” Lauren states. 

“The benefit, as she mentioned to me, is that she doesn’t get ink on her hand as her left hand moves across the page. Because we write from left to right in the English language, many left-handers end up smearing their words and getting their hands dirty while they write. I imagine that any left-handers out there would be grateful to learn this new way of writing,” Jameson said.

”Since she writes upside down she can also read upside down which can be helpful,” Ashley said. “I think it’s cool that she writes upside down because it could help if we were working on paper together.”

Writing abnormally can be a useful tool and Lauren gets many benefits because of it. So you better start practicing. 

“I am unsure whether this is something Lauren came up with on her own while growing up, or if she learned it from someone, but it is a testament to what a hard worker she is and how she is able to think outside of the box. Her story is a great lesson to all students on how to face a challenge with creativity and how it is always possible to adapt,” Jameson said.