Chap­ter 11 of If These Wings Could Fly opens with the pro­tag­o­nist reflect­ing on the allure of brand-new note­books, asso­ci­at­ing their blank pages with bound­less poten­tial. She com­pares these unmarked pages to the inno­cence and pos­si­bil­i­ties of a new­born, yet acknowl­edges that, like life, these note­books inevitably fill with imper­fec­tions over time. This reflec­tion serves as a metaphor for her own expe­ri­ences, as she nav­i­gates the imper­fec­tions and chal­lenges that come with liv­ing. The pro­tag­o­nist express­es excite­ment about hav­ing her own col­umn in the school news­pa­per, yet she strug­gles to find a spe­cif­ic theme that feels right. Mean­while, her friend Sofia is active­ly cov­er­ing sports events, mak­ing the pro­tag­o­nist feel both inspired and pres­sured by her peer’s con­fi­dent focus on a top­ic. Despite the uncer­tain­ty, the pro­tag­o­nist sees this oppor­tu­ni­ty as a way to express her­self and carve out her own space in the school com­mu­ni­ty.

As the sto­ry unfolds, Sofia’s curios­i­ty about the protagonist’s grow­ing con­nec­tion with Liam, a boy she has been talk­ing to, begins to stir a mix­ture of embar­rass­ment and intrigue in the pro­tag­o­nist. Sofia play­ful­ly probes her about her inter­ac­tions with Liam, sug­gest­ing that their casu­al exchanges have devel­oped into some­thing more sig­nif­i­cant. Although the pro­tag­o­nist protests that they are “not a thing,” Sofia insists that their recent inter­ac­tions seem to indi­cate oth­er­wise. This con­ver­sa­tion sig­nals a piv­otal shift in the pro­tag­o­nist’s feel­ings as her casu­al con­ver­sa­tions with Liam grad­u­al­ly trans­form into some­thing more emo­tion­al­ly mean­ing­ful. Sofia teas­es the pro­tag­o­nist about hav­ing a crush on Liam, and while the pro­tag­o­nist is flat­tered by the sug­ges­tion, she feels hes­i­tant to label her feel­ings just yet. These moments of self-reflec­tion and the evolv­ing rela­tion­ship with Liam high­light the protagonist’s vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty, allow­ing read­ers to con­nect with her inter­nal strug­gle of nav­i­gat­ing love, desire, and self-iden­ti­ty.

As the pro­tag­o­nist con­tem­plates her feel­ings and rela­tion­ships, an unex­pect­ed inspi­ra­tion for her col­umn sur­faces. She becomes fas­ci­nat­ed by the crows that fre­quent­ly appear near the base­ball fields out­side her class­room, decid­ing to inves­ti­gate their pres­ence fur­ther. The crows, once a back­ground detail in her life, now rep­re­sent a sym­bol­ic explo­ration of the world around her. She recalls how the local news has even report­ed on the grow­ing crow pop­u­la­tion in the area, which adds depth to her curios­i­ty and desire to explore the sub­ject in her col­umn. This dis­cov­ery sparks her ambi­tion to cre­ate some­thing mean­ing­ful with her writ­ing, yet it also serves as a reminder of her broad­er aspi­ra­tions beyond high school. She dreams of leav­ing the con­fines of rur­al Penn­syl­va­nia and attend­ing New York Uni­ver­si­ty, but the path to her goals feels uncer­tain, espe­cial­ly due to finan­cial lim­i­ta­tions and the expec­ta­tions her fam­i­ly holds regard­ing her edu­ca­tion.

The protagonist’s inter­nal con­flict deep­ens when she comes across a fly­er for a schol­ar­ship essay con­test, which presents a poten­tial oppor­tu­ni­ty to fund her dreams. This con­test offers a glim­mer of hope, moti­vat­ing her to con­sid­er how she can pur­sue her future while bal­anc­ing her cur­rent cir­cum­stances. The phrase “Auburn born, Auburn proud” echoes in her mind, reflect­ing the pride her fam­i­ly holds for their small town, yet she won­ders if this pride will hold her back from achiev­ing her dreams. As she con­tem­plates the schol­ar­ship oppor­tu­ni­ty, the pro­tag­o­nist grap­ples with the weight of her family’s expec­ta­tions and the real­i­ty of her aspi­ra­tions. This moment marks a cru­cial point in her jour­ney toward self-dis­cov­ery, as she begins to ques­tion what it means to hon­or her roots while striv­ing for some­thing greater.

Through­out the chap­ter, themes of love, ambi­tion, and self-dis­cov­ery are woven togeth­er as the pro­tag­o­nist nav­i­gates the com­plex­i­ties of her per­son­al life. Her rela­tion­ship with Liam and the uncer­tain­ty about her future at New York Uni­ver­si­ty reflect the ten­sion between her desires and the con­straints of her cur­rent cir­cum­stances. The crows, the schol­ar­ship con­test, and her evolv­ing rela­tion­ship with Liam all serve as sym­bols of the protagonist’s long­ing for inde­pen­dence and per­son­al growth. As she faces these chal­lenges, the read­er is offered a glimpse into the pro­tag­o­nist’s deter­mi­na­tion to forge her own path, even as she remains anchored by her family’s expec­ta­tions. This chap­ter cap­tures the uni­ver­sal expe­ri­ence of nav­i­gat­ing love, fam­i­ly, and ambi­tion dur­ing the tumul­tuous peri­od of ado­les­cence.