Imagine being a freshman in college but also being a published poet at the same time. For Danielle Barbagallo, it is her reality.

In August 2011, Barbagallo came to Iona College as a freshman. By her second semester, she has compiled and released a book of her poetry entitled “Mixed Emotions: Never ending emotions.”

While this is the first time Barbagallo published her works in a volume, she has been writing since her sophomore year of high school. At the same time of taking up poetry, she also taught herself to play guitar and began to write her own lyrics. During her sophomore year of high school, she experienced the loss of her grandfather and turned to writing to cope with his death.

The volume presents a progression of her emotions, dealing with not only the loss of her grandfather but also current and past relationships with friends and family. At the beginning, many of the poems are depressed and self-conscious. As the book progresses, though they become more hopeful, illustrating the mixing of never ending emotions.

To publish her poems, Barbagallo went through Create Space, allowing her to self-publish her book. The image she chose to put on the front is of a raven-like bird highlighted with blue feathers. Resembling her grandfather’s favorite bird, she saw it as his reincarnation. Since his loss drove her to writing, the picture seemed fitting for the cover. She also dedicated the book to him.

Prior to publishing her own book, she was published in “Inspired,” a collection of poetry. Her poem “An Anniversary That Should Have Been” was chosen for this book, and it is also the first poem featured in “Mixed Emotions.” The poem speaks about remembering the anniversaries even after a relationship has ended and the emotions that accompany this. Other poems to note are “Red Light” and “Live In The Moment,” which reflect on hope and inspiration.

Barbagallo plans to donate a portion of her proceeds to the charity To Write Love On Her Arms. She has already produced a demo CD of her songs, and she has donated money from these sales to TWLOHA.

The organization, which aims to help those dealing with depression, self-injury and addiction, is close to Barbagallo’s heart. She knows many people who have self-harmed and is given hope through the foundation.

Her poetry book is perfect to provide donations for this organization since she turned to writing to deal with her problems. She recognizes that she could have easily turned to self-injury or an addiction to cope but used her emotions constructively. She finds that through writing she is not only able to express herself but release her emotions and move past the pain that has held her back before.

“Mixed Emotions” was released on Amazon on January 29 and is also for sale on Create Space’s website. Within the next six to eight weeks it will receive an expanded distribution into stores. Copies are being sold for $17 on both Amazon and Create Space.