Carly Sotas, a fourth-year environmental student graduating this year, has published her first book, Illusion, with all proceeds going to Pencils of Promise, an organization dedicated to ensuring that children have opportunities to learn.
Growing up, Sotas was passionate about magazines. However, she found a disconnect between the celebrities featured and her own life. This served as her objective for sharing her work.
Illusion is a collection of anecdotes from Sotas’ life which she ties to greater life lessons.
“I think the scariest part was just making that first move like putting yourself out there to be criticized,” said Sotas when asked what her biggest challenge was in publishing her book.
Through the process of writing Illusion, Sotas came into contact with many people — some her friends while others strangers — and got the chance to listen to their stories.
“It’s so easy to feel we’re so alone in our experiences and to know that we aren’t has been most rewarding,” she said.
The other inspiration behind the book is the organization, Pencils of Promise. Sotas read Adam Braun’s (founder of Pencils of Promise) book about the organization, his mission and his experiences. Through this, she found the courage and confidence to share her work.
“If my writing could inspire just one person like his book did for me, then I had to share it,” she said.
Pencils of Promise has been around since 2009 and is a global organization that establishes schools, creates educational programs and forms partnerships with communities to provide education for youths in developing countries.
Other than writing her book, Sotas is also involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities. She is a peer support counsellor for the Kaleidoscope — UBC’s mental health support group —she has been a writer at The Ubyssey and is a co-director for the city piano program. She also recently founded a Pencils of Promise club at UBC as a space for student leaders to come together and collaborate to host events and fundraisers in support of the global organization.
Currently, the Pencils of Promise in UBC comprises of a small executive team, but they are planning to soon host their fundraisers such as quick connections, very much like speed-dating with a theme each month that focuses on skill development with proceeds going to the organization. They also plan to host transition nights in high schools for students wanting to attend UBC after graduating.
As for Illusion, it is currently being sold in local bookstores in Manitoba, Amazon and the UBC Bookstore.
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