Meet Jacqlyn Cope: Writer, Veteran, & Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jacqlyn Cope and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jacqlyn, how do you think about risk?
First off, I am a writer and a veteran, and I believe to be a writer you must take risks everyday by putting yourself out there, if you want your work to be widely read or published. I’ve come to realize that submitting work to literary magazines and reaching out to an agent or publishing house is what most writers are extremely intimidated and afraid of. Risks must be taken if you want to grow, even if you fail. Looking back, one of the riskiest things I have done in my short life, was join the U.S. Air Force at the age of 17. Consequently, my writing is borne from my experiences as an aeromedical evacuation mission controller. I thought I would spend my life in the military and retire but deploying in 2012 to Afghanistan changed that view for me. The trauma I experienced when I was only 22 years old began to shape my decisions and it was like a poison taking over my mind, which I later realized was PTSD. The fear I felt even thinking about leaving the military after only 8 years of service was immense, to say the least. I had health coverage, a paycheck, and knew I wouldn’t have a safety net if I just walked away. I ended up leaving and knowing that I wanted to pursue my one true passion, writing. It took me a while to be comfortable with risk, I still can’t stomach thinking about it sometimes, but it is needed for growth. Risk, for me allowed me to seek the help I needed for my PTSD. Risk allowed me to see past the limits I placed on myself and cut off that little voice in my mind that tells me, “You’re not good enough, why try?” I’m glad I took the leap off the proverbial mountain because I would have never applied to grad school if I didn’t risk leaving that safety net to obtain my education. Mount Saint Mary’s University is where I received my MFA in creative writing and I distinctly remember a moment, during my second year of study, when I visited the Chalon campus for a scholarship luncheon. I visited the church on campus and sat in the back. Light flooded through the stained-glass windows and I thought back on everything I had been through and what it took to get to a position where I was in grad school and pursuing my passion, while healing from the past. There, in the solitude of that empty church, I cried, for the first time ever in public. You see, risk has propelled me into situations that I have had to heal from, but risk has also saved my life. As a writer, I take risks every day, telling my truth, and sending my work out to literary magazines. I’ve recently seen the fruits of that labor and have started getting published. I do get rejected, a lot, that’s the truth, but I have not stopped, and I will not stop trying to get my work out there because I owe it to myself and my craft. Anyone can be a writer, but you must take risks if you want to be heard. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After leaving the military, I decided to not only focus on my writing, but become a teacher for LAUSD to try and ignite the same passion for writing in kids. I currently am a 7th grade English teacher in Boyle Heights. Becoming a teacher was not an easy task, all while balancing my writing on the side. The district intern program that LA offers is one that requires you to go to class every week while you teach, and you really are just thrown into the thick of it. I thought that being in the military would have helped with classroom management, but I was wrong. The hardest part of being a teacher is making sure students have a routine and know the rules of the classroom. What also was and still is a struggle for me, is seeing the disparity in equity in our school systems. In my first year of teaching, I had a couple of homeless students and that was hard to see that their basic needs of shelter were not being met. It made me realize that they need the social emotional support first, before they needed the knowledge of the structure of a 5-paragraph essay. What I want the world to know about my writing and my career as a teacher is that I have a main goal, and that is to allow people to show their pain without the fear of shame. So much shame is carried with showing our trauma and how we feel, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I am trying to build my students up to know and believe that they matter, their truth and their story needs to be heard too.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Where to visit: Huntington Library Los Angeles Public Library Griffith Observatory Griffith Park Where to eat : Tam O’ Shanter-Los Feliz Bon Vinant- Los Feliz Guelaguetza- Downtown LA Where to drink/ Hangout: Roof Top bar at The Perch-Downtown LA The Edison Bar-Dowtown LA Mrs. Fish- Downtown LA

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate this shout-out to Mount Saint Mary’s MFA program in creative writing and my professors Johnny Payne, Juana Moriel-Payne, and JoAnna Novak, who believed in my writing, at times where I didn’t believe in it myself. Thank you for helping me hone my craft and voice.

Website: https://www.jacqlyncope.com/

Instagram: The_Vintage_Veteran