My name is Alizaye Manigo. I am a student at an International Baccalaureate high school, and one of our projects is a student-led inquiry called the personal project. The personal project requires that you ask a question, investigate it, and complete a product of your research.

My inquiry question was how competition affects the identity formation of children and teens. The possibilities of products are limitless, so I chose to write Inside. I have always loved writing, so the process of writing this book wasn’t 100% new to me, but still enjoyable and challenging nonetheless.

The book focuses on eight young adults stranded in a forest as they try to survive. There’s a lot of competition over leadership roles. The characters just generally try to one-up each other / prove their worth, and this gets more prevalent the longer they’re stuck together. No matter the severity of the situation, there is an immense desire, especially in the main character Maisie, to prove oneself. This distracts them from their goals.

Readers would help this project tremendously. Reviews and suggestions would be very, very helpful in forming this book. Part of the personal project is how the inquiry relates to a community, and reviews would definitely help me better tie my inquiry and book to a community that can relate to and understand what it’s like to compete.

For more information about the personal project, click here.