In Chap­ter Eleven of “If These Wings Could Fly,” the pro­tag­o­nist reflects on the allure of brand-new note­books, equat­ing their unmarked pages to per­fect poten­tial, much like babies. How­ev­er, she acknowl­edges that as life unfolds, these note­books become filled with imper­fec­tions, much like our own lives. She express­es excite­ment about hav­ing her own col­umn in the school’s news­pa­per, though she strug­gles to deter­mine a theme while oth­ers, like her friend Sofia, are active­ly engaged in sports cov­er­age.

Sofia’s inquiries into the protagonist’s inter­ac­tions with Liam, a boy she has been con­nect­ing with, bring a mix­ture of embar­rass­ment and intrigue. Despite protest­ing that they are “not a thing,” Sofia insists that recent exchanges indi­cate oth­er­wise. This marks a piv­otal shift as the pro­tag­o­nist’s casu­al con­ver­sa­tions with Liam evolve into some­thing more mean­ing­ful. Sofia teas­es her about hav­ing a crush, while the pro­tag­o­nist is both flat­tered and hes­i­tant to label her feel­ings. The nar­ra­tive dives into her thoughts about the sta­tus of her rela­tion­ship with Liam and her ambi­tions, reveal­ing a more vul­ner­a­ble side of her char­ac­ter.

Amidst this per­son­al explo­ration, an idea for her col­umn emerges, inspired by the crows that fre­quent­ly inhab­it the base­ball fields out­side her class­room. She resolves to inves­ti­gate their pres­ence, recall­ing how their num­bers have even gar­nered atten­tion from local news. The chap­ter fur­ther unfolds to show­case her ambi­tions beyond high school and her desire to escape the con­fines of rur­al Penn­syl­va­nia, aim­ing for a future at New York Uni­ver­si­ty. How­ev­er, she grap­ples with finan­cial lim­i­ta­tions and the expec­ta­tions her fam­i­ly has con­cern­ing her edu­ca­tion. Dis­cov­er­ing a fly­er for a schol­ar­ship essay con­test, she sees a poten­tial path to fund her dreams, prompt­ing her to con­sid­er the sig­nif­i­cance of being “Auburn born, Auburn proud.”

This chap­ter intri­cate­ly weaves themes of youth­ful love, ambi­tion, and the jour­ney toward self-dis­cov­ery, estab­lish­ing a relat­able and poignant nar­ra­tive as the pro­tag­o­nist nav­i­gates her aspi­ra­tions and rela­tion­ships amidst a back­drop of per­son­al and exter­nal chal­lenges.