While many students aspire to be published after college, one went above and beyond and self published her own book while at Southern.

Mashea Shultz, sophomore English secondary education major, wrote out her idea for a Christian based fiction novel about a year ago.

She said she had to write the book after her boss’ father committed suicide and her 10-year-old nephew was already experiencing thoughts of suicide.

“The night I found out about my nephew, while I was praying for him, I had the idea for this book and it’s plot,” Shultz said. “Then watching my boss and what she was going through really motivated me to get it written.”

The main character of the book deals with issues like a drunken father, depression and thoughts of suicide. While the book may be a good read for anyone dealing with these issues, the audience is mainly teenagers.

Randy Hopper, junior literary English major, said he read the book before it was published because he knew Shultz through teaching a Mids class she was in.

“I liked it,” Hopper said. “But the big thing to me was that my 15-year-old daughter read it and liked. That tells me the book is doing what it is supposed to.”

Jeanne Lewis, the wife of Shultz’s pastor at the Columbus Christians Center, said she also enjoyed the book because she works with a lot of people dealing with these issues and it is written from an insightful perspective.

“She wrote it from a gut-wrenching viewpoint,” Lewis said. “She didn’t write it with a head in the clouds attitude.”

Both Hopper and Lewis said Shultz is a good writer and a good person with a bright future ahead of her.