Born to Write: Rutgers Junior Pursues Her Screen Writing Dream

By Lauren Rowe   OCT. 18 2016

            Current Rutgers University student Imani Seung, was always destined to be a writer.

This North Brunswick native has many facets in writing such as, screenwriting and blogging. Seung desires to be a writer. She has done many things to help her achieve her career in screenwriting.

After graduating North Brunswick High School, Seung decided she wanted to attend Rutgers University.

Seung’s says, “My passion for writing led me to decide to major in Journalism and Media Studies and minor in DCIM (Digital Communication, Information, and Media) to focus more on my craft as a writer than my initial plan as working as a filmmaker.”

Seung’s plans after achieving her degree are to work in screenwriting and be in the entertainment business.

Seung currently works as a content creator at a psychology and lifestyle blog called Truly Blog. At this blog she writes articles and creates short videos.

Two years ago when she applied to be the content creator for Truly Blog, she was confident this was the perfect job for her to help build her writing portfolio.

What landed her the job was how she described her interest in psychology writing because of her personal experience with mental illness in her family. During her interview with Truly Blog, she talked about why she was so passionate about writing for them.

 “During my interview, I explained that what inspired me to write for a psychology and lifestyle blog is seeing mental illness first hand in my immediate family. My Aunt has a mental illness after having a nervous breakdown during her freshman year in college,” she said.

“I was hired on the spot,” she said.

She added,  “My family does not openly talk about what happened to my Aunt that led her to have a nervous breakdown. Knowing that openly talking about mental illness is therapeutic for people really inspired me to want to write about it.”

“I know I won’t be at Truly Blog forever because I want to pursue something even bigger in the writing industry. This is just the beginning of my writing career to gain experience. I know with the work I am doing at this blog will only help me in the future for my dream job of screenwriting,” she said.

Seung felt hesitant to share her writings with others because of what people might think or say. However, when Seung started getting more involved in High School it allowed her to break out of her shell more because of her taking on leadership positions in school.

“At age 15 I wrote many scripts and short stories, but was very resistant to take my work any further than the pages of my notebook,” she said.

Seung attended North Brunswick High School. Seung did screen work for TV in High School and started getting involved in various clubs in High School such as, the Production Club. After two years as a member Seung’s peers voted her as president.

Seung had creative control over her projects that the club worked on as well. In addition to her involvement in the Production Club she was also a member of a community service organization known as Key Club.

Seung chose to expose her written stories to her peers who then began to produce them as short films during her senior year.

“My work gained much respect amongst my peers, while also winning competitions and awards on behalf of my school. Taking leadership positions in school really helped me express my ideas and pursue my dreams of screenwriting,” she said.