Bloom

By Irene Hao

In June of my sophomore year, I participated in my school’s talent show, doing modern dance and flow arts. Both were challenging: Modern required flexibility and movements my awkward limbs were unaccustomed to, and flow required dexterity of my wrists to simultaneously twirl strings, staffs, glowsticks, and fans in contrasting patterns. I performed one in the spotlight, another in the dark. Dance is a purely visual medium, and translating these two styles into an 8.5” by 11” poster shows how I overcame my physical and creative struggles.

Meet the Pair

MENTEE IRENE HAO & MENTOR LAUREN VESPOLI

Irene’s Anecdote: Lauren this year in particular has been so lovely and patient, given my hectic schedule. As a freelance writer, she now has the freedom to creatively explore various writing mediums that have been the subjects of many of our weekly meetings. We have made great progress in our pair goals this school year, particularly in terms of making a habit of including writing exercises in our meetings. They’re incredibly useful in keeping my creative juices flowing. When not working together and sharing our writing pieces, we are catching up on each other’s lives, a persevering aspect of our meetings that I treasure.

Lauren’s Anecdote: I’ve loved watching Irene become more confident this year. When we started working together, she was finding her place at a new school. This year, I’ve been so impressed with how she’s balanced pursuing her passions and taking on new challenges, from copy editing for the school newspaper to dancing in the SING! production. That adventurous spirit has carried over into Girls Write Now, as we’ve experimented with digital media like podcasts and stop-motion animation. Though she’s new to these mediums, she brings the same ambitious creativity she expresses in her writing. As always, I can’t wait to see what she’ll conquer next.