Oftentimes, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the bustle of society. Easy to fall into the online world and never resurface. In this collection of poems, the beauty of nature is explored in a personal way, with the hope that you will find a new reason to stop and appreciate the world around us. These poems reflect on what can be seen, and describe the complexity of nature that I hope you find to ring true. These poems are dedicated to the sky, the flowers, the trees, and the ocean, who need our protection now more than ever.
Class of 2020
Anatomy 125
This erasure poem is a visual representation of my own writing process. You can see the crossing out of words as well as the words I had to write back in. Sharing any kind of writing is an innately intimate experience, but this specifically feels personal for the way that it displays my mistakes as well as the final project.
Different Views
People who struggle with making friends or getting good grades will connect with this piece. Beware, the beautiful sunsets and powerful words might make some cry.
Beyond the Scenes
The Korean pop group BTS is known for having a devoted fanbase, but very few people are interested in the important messages found in their versatile and lyrically profound music. In my podcast, we will listen to BTS’s refreshing, eclectic, and well-produced bops one at a time and explore the layers of meaning behind the lyrics.
Project Silmo: Reconstructing a Nation
I’ve been analyzing and thinking about The Silmarillion for years now. After multiple rereads, hours upon hours of research, drafting, and redrafting, here are my final thoughts on Tolkien’s legendarium.
Dear NYC: A High-Schooler’s Take On Life
Race, as a visual marker, affects our daily lives —whether it be through making snap judgments or the Model Minority stereotype. Discussions of race tend to be neglected in academic institutions themselves: the questions of both how to include rather than exclude and how to better diversify communities continually rise.
Dedicated to my Natural Hair
I wrote a letter to my natural hair because I recognized that I was dealing with some deeply engrained self-hate issues regarding it.
Sunrise
In the newest iteration of “Sunrise,” I explore an acoustic arrangement featuring myself on keyboard and vocals.
Lordecast
My podcast, Lordecast, discusses the topic of Lorde’s music and how it has affected my perspective and views throughout my life. This podcast is a joint conversation with my mentor about the way music has a profound way of shaping people, no matter how old or different they may seem to be. Lorde has always been one of my favorite artists, so it felt natural to do a piece about her.
The Wild Inside
My project is a compilation of several of my poems narrated alongside many photographs from my nature collection. I find that there are endless possibilities when depicting the natural world and its challenges: stories, music, light and shade, color, and poetry, to name a few.
Flowers for Georgia
My dad and I love art history, and we wanted to bring to light stories of women who have carved and sculpted their place in history! There are so many inspiring women today, but also many women who may be in the shadows of history— and who should be kept alive. This work was a challenge given that I had never worked on a piece through a media platform before. The piece is a product of my learning process and the new mode of storytelling I tried, and the writing I always do!
Popped
Pop culture is all around us—in the movie trailers we watch, the celebrities we follow, in the books we read, and more. But pop culture often intersects with the larger structures of our lives, like politics or ethics, and these intersections bring up interesting questions about how we consume media. This podcast is a look at these intersections and how to answer these questions in an age in which the personal is the political. In each episode, I’ll explore a recent pop culture trend and then analyze it through a larger framework with background research.
Bloom
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.
The Perfect American
The Perfect American tells the stories of immigrants detained by ICE. Every episode is centered around a different detainee. Each with a different story, a different perspective, and a different relationship with America. In this country, where not everyone qualifies as American, these people deserve a chance to be heard. A chance to prove themselves, to show who they are outside of what the media spews about them. These are the Perfect Americans, the people who strive to be a part of a nation that doesn’t want them.
Tawhito Scene
This is a scene from my novel, where the prophet Tawhito is giving advice to Anna and Ela. I think it’s a really important scene in my book because it’s a big turning point where Anna and Ela decide to kill the Queen, which sets off an important chain of events.