Sheila Squillante never thought writing could be so glamorous.

The Penn State creative writing instructor won Glamour magazine's "Story of Your Life" for an essay that portrays her struggles through a divorce, her thoughts about school and how taking orders at a coffee shop became so significant.

When her husband of two years started to change and their marriage began to disintegrate, the effortless task of pouring coffee became comforting. She focused more on the customers and memorized each modest detail of their specialized drinks in an effort to push her pain aside.

A friend and fellow writer informed Squillante about the magazine's essay contest and encouraged her to submit "Shift," an essay she had written in graduate school in 2000.

"I wrote this essay in a memoir writing course in grad school and won a Penn State David Stang award," Squillante said. "I have been trying to publish it ever since, but couldn't."

Squillante's friend Kim Welsch, a State College resident, read her essay in graduate school and demanded that she enter the contest.

"When I read about the contest I tore it out of the magazine and then I demanded a 10 percent finder's fee," Welsch said. "Her writing is very sensual and each of her scenes build to a greater understanding, so I thought this would be a good match for the magazine's audience."

After a little hesitation, Squillante mailed her essay and put the contest toward the back of her mind.

Welsch said she was very excited, but not surprised when Squillante told her she won the contest.

Squillante's essay will be published in the November issue of Glamour. She will receive a $5,000 prize and will have the opportunity to meet agents for a possible book deal.

"I am working on figuring out what I can focus on for my books and what events will make a cohesive story," Squillante said. "It's been very exciting because there have been a lot of writing careers launched by magazine contests."

Squillante said teaching classes at Penn State has contributed to her success.

"I walked into a class not knowing a thing about nonfiction writing," Squillante said. "This class came at the exact right moment for me and I wrote the essay partly out of a need to heal."

Julia Kasdorf, director of the master of fine arts program in English, said she is very pleased that Squillante's work is being recognized in such a positive light.

"Of course this reflects on our program, and I am pleased with that too," Kasdorf said. "She not only is a graduate of our MFA program, but she also teaches classes from our creative writing program."

Squillante said she has learned a lot from the eclectic group of teachers at Penn State and tries to incorporate that and her own style into her teaching.

She now uses "Shift" as a teaching aid and tells her students that writing is a journey of discovery.

"Writing can take you to places that you didn't expect," Squillante said. "Those are the things that I am looking forward to."