• About
• Latest Posts

Melanie Gillott

I love theatre, singing, and writing.
"If you've got a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." -Carol Burnett

Latest posts by Melanie Gillott (see all)

• The Future is Mine club hosts career and college fair - March 30, 2017
• SHS student job shadows WPXI’s Peggy Finnegan - March 3, 2017
• Local singer moves to LA to pursue music career - March 1, 2017

In seventh grade, Mia Rocco was stopped by her teacher while reading her short story, Insane, in front of her Language Arts class. The “too detailed” story caught not only her teachers’ attention, but some of her classmates came up to young Rocco after class to ask for a copy of the story so they could enter the rich and vivid imagination of the current Southmoreland junior.

“When I was in fourth grade, my teacher, Mrs. (Jane) Lauffer, really pushed for me to write,” said Rocco. Since then, Rocco said she has progressed from “two pages of a short story to a 51,000-word novel.”

The 16-year-old aspires to publish a novel just like author  John Green.

“Just the way he can be in the mind of a teenager, despite that he’s around 40 years-old is mind-blowing,” she said.

Rocco said she “like “to explore different kinds of literature.” When she first started writing, Rocco wrote mainly in the genre of horror, but has recently gotten into young adult and science fiction.

“My first real story was a horror story titled, The Eye of Something Else, and I put it on Wattpad,” she said.

Throughout the years, Rocco was gifted with English teachers who  she said pushed her to be a better writer and constantly were impressed with her talents.

Rocco’s eighth grade language arts teacher, Ms. Bethany Hutira, said that’s it’s “no surprise that Mia writes or wishes to publish someday. Mia is much like her writing; unexpected, gutsy, and full of depth.”

Ms. Hutira also remembers the first time she read Rocco’s work, “chuckling” and thinking, “Alright, this is great stuff.” She immediately wanted to see Rocco “take her writing to the next level.”

“Writing is apart of her identity. To know thyself, especially a huge part of oneself at such a young age is extraordinary,” Ms. Hutira said, adding that she thinks Rocco “is definitely going somewhere” with her writing.

Rocco’s ninth grade English teacher, Mr. John Saunders, agreed.

“I think she’ll be successful,” he said. “Mia is a hard worker; once she sets her mind to do something, it will get done. She’s got a real good head on her shoulders.”

Mr. Saunders describes Rocco as a “kind” and “considerate” person, and being very “passionate” when it comes to writing.

Rocco’s tenth grade Pre-Advanced Placement English teacher, Mrs. Jenna Hixson, said that “it’s great that she wants to publish a novel. She has a very unique and creative writing style.”

To Mrs. Hixson, Rocco’s writing “stuck out” to her after she assigned her students to write an “Edgar Allen Poe” inspired short story.

Other than writing fictional pieces, Rocco is also involved with several school clubs at Southmoreland High School including Spanish Club, Art Council, and she writes for the school’s online newspaper, The Tam O’ Shanter. Rocco also plays softball and occasionally buses tables at Rizzo’s Malabar Inn in Crabtree, Pennsylvania.

After she graduates, Rocco plans to go to college to pursue a degree in English, publish more novels, following her previous one that was left “on a cliffhanger,” and to possibly write a book comprised of her own poetry.