“Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see…” Irene Cho and Alexis Grusby’s Life@GWN

In their second cycle together, this peer-to-peer pair bridges seven years and certainly feels more like mentor to mentee. Considerable distance lies between the two as geographic opposites, with one on each coast of the United States, East and West.

There is also a cultural bridge.  Mentor, Alexis Grusby, is a young American college student and former English tutor for a Chinese school, and has worked with theatre arts kids. She currently studies Dramatic Writing, while double-minoring in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies and Film at NYU.

Her South Korean mentee, Irene Cho, is a rising high school freshman with passions for musical theater, performing arts, and finding her creative voice. What the two lack in proximity, they make up for in shared passions, mannerisms and mutual support.

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Tell us about your Life@GWN

Irene: I believe that forming a relationship with a mentor who is in a different season of life and who can offer insights on things that I wouldn’t be able to is so truly special. Girls Write Now has given me an amazing platform with an abundant amount of resources and such a supportive community that fosters a sense of belonging.

Alexis: I am a mentor with Girls Write Now and began mentoring in Summer 2025. I love working with Girls Write Now because I was once a young writer lost on how to move forward and retain writing in my life after losing the structure of my high school creative writing classes. To be able to help other female-identifying writers is such a joy, and I love working with Irene. Getting to build a relationship with one mentee specifically is so rewarding.

What’s your superpower? How does that inform your Girls Write Now experience?

Irene: Passion and adaptability are my main superpowers. Over the years, I’ve learned to fall in love not with the outcome, but with the process, because that is what truly makes or breaks your perception of your goal. Whether it’s rehearsing for a theater competition or writing a new poem, falling in love with the process has helped me stay curious, and more importantly, open to growth. This informs my GWN experience as it allows me to enter each session with a new excitement and focus on the task at hand.

The title of this year’s Girls Write Now Anthology is “Hope Lives in our Words.” Do you have a mantra, phrase or quote that you turn to for hope & inspiration?

Alexis: I think my superpower is empathy. I’m always willing to lend a listening ear or give some advice. I’ve been through a lot of my own challenges, and I think that really informs how I approach others. You never know what’s going on in someone’s life and I never want to assume anything. This informs my GWN experience because it gives me a lot of patience. Sometimes, my schedule simply doesn’t line up with the slate of events GWN has created, or even with my mentee’s schedule, but to be able to be patient and keep trying to find a time to connect is always beneficial. And when we do have time, I’m always excited to catch up with Irene.

Irene: A quote that I keep in mind is “Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see…” by Stephen Sondheim. This quote can be interpreted in two ways. As an actor, this quote by Sondheim is a constant reminder that the best performances and interpretations come from authenticity; from making bold choices rather than previously taken steps. By bringing a fresh perspective to a role, I find I can create something new, maybe even more fitting than its original intent. But also, in life, I tend to stay within what feels most comfortable, so this quote also reminds me to step out of my comfort zone, take creative risks, and trust that when something comes from me, it carries its own kind of meaning.

Alexis: I really like the quote ‘might sink but imagine if we end up swimming’. I really had to learn how to overcome my fear of failure recently, and this quote plays it off so casually– sure, you could fail, but what if you don’t? And even if you do, there’s always someone waiting with a rescue tube– or perhaps the water isn’t even as deep as you once assumed. Failing is still scary, but it inevitably gets you closer to success.

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How are you and your mentor/mentee different or the same in either obvious or unexpected ways?

Irene:We both have a love for theater, while Alexis enjoys writing plays, I enjoy acting them out. I believe our shared love and appreciation for the dramatic arts has set an unspoken understanding between us.

Alexis: Irene and I are alike in our passive mannerisms. We always try to let the other person speak first and we tend to agree easily. This is great because we fit together like two puzzle pieces, but sometimes I have to catch her agreeing with all my feedback and ask, “do you truly like that change?” to make sure it’s feedback that’s beneficial! In an obvious way, Irene is a freshman in high school and I’m about to graduate college, so we’re at different stages in our life– but I think that’s pretty awesome because there’s so much we can learn from each other’s experiences.

What is your favorite pop culture reference that you have learned from one another?

Irene: We would often discuss The Summer I Turned Pretty and quickly found that we were both Team Conrad, finding the hidden “Easter eggs” that Jenny Han would leave in each episode and discussing what our perspectives were on each one. Although it was not something we necessarily learned from each other, our discussions on the hidden allusions or references in certain scenes definitely made me see some in a new light when re-watching.

Alexis: Irene and I bonded over our mutual love of The Summer I Turned Pretty and being Team Conrad, so although I didn’t necessarily learn that from her, I think it was a great icebreaker for our sessions and I loved debriefing the episodes with her. #teamconrad

How will this relationship change the way you think about life, and what part?

Alexis: Irene has taught me to look at life from a more beautiful angle. We recently worked on a narrative essay together where she compared her life to a game of Omok. I had never heard of Omok, and I got to learn all about it from her and her writing. She opens me up to new ideas and comparisons I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. I thought her essay was a beautiful metaphor, and I want to think about life the way she does.

Irene: Alexis has helped me become more reflective and insightful not only in writing but in the way I go about life. During our writing process of my narrative story about the Korean board game Omok, especially in our brainstorming stages, Alexis guided me in directions that I had not taken before, asking me questions that required me to sit down and reflect on what I truly thought. It’s made me embrace as a writer and a student a more vulnerable side of myself that I do not often explore!

What are things you have learned about from your tee/tor that you now love or would like to try?

Alexis: Again, looping back around to Omok—I’d love to actually play it! Irene also does speech and debate which wasn’t an extracurricular at my high school, and she makes it sound so interesting, so I would definitely love to learn more about it (probably not try it though, seeing as I’m past my high school years, but still!)

Irene: Something I have yet to try but I know Alexis loves is creative writing, particularly screenwriting and playwriting, which I am excited to explore through my new GWN Journey! I can’t wait to experience a new side of theater, not just through performing, but writing the stories myself!