The reality of missing school for a whole two weeks and dealing with the stares of society.
‘You Don’t Owe Anyone Anything’

The reality of missing school for a whole two weeks and dealing with the stares of society.
“Not Up 2 Code” is a podcast about the struggle of public school students, created by students. Most of the podcasts that are similar to this one are from the perspective of teachers, but I’ve realized that they exclude student voices. I wanted to start the podcast after I was outed at school. It was violent and unwanted, and to make matters worse, the person who orchestrated the event never faced repercussions The podcast is run by two women of color, both part of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s meant to expose the disparity in New York City’s education system.
I was inspired to write this story because it is a common fear/nightmare that women have and I wanted to write a story in which the woman was victorious in the end.
This all started out with a six-word prompt written by a classmate of mine, “wanted food, but I had homework.” I ended up turning it into something special to myself, and something relatable to everyone in high school.
I wrote this piece because I know how difficult it can be to succeed when dealing with unfortunate circumstances, like death or teenage pregnancy. It’s assumed that these events are setbacks. I want people to know that despite hardship and difficulties, they can achieve anything.
“Debate Team” is a monologue in which a high school student, Heather, suddenly loses her cool while debating the topic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media with her narrow-minded classmate, David.
When a cold, unfeeling rejection appears at our doorstep, do we readily welcome it? Hardly. Alas, it makes its way indoors regardless, bringing along misery as a plus one.
Writing poetry has served as an outlet to relieve stress during this anxiety-filled year. I’ve poured many of my feelings into these poems, some of which are selected here.
A poem on the often cruel and uncaring nature of the passage of time during the pandemic.
This film continues Adelaide’s story from “Far Away Is Closer Than You Think,” an original short film featuring the same main character. She realizes life isn’t going back to normal, yet… but what is normal?
Spilling thoughts on paper; the unrefined, unfiltered, unmuted musings of Lavera Yul.
Do physical things mark the passage of time? What we hope to reveal is that these seemingly mundane objects have lives beyond the obvious—and that they’re filled with love, pain, stress and hope.
Two perspectives on 2020, a year of change, growth, tragedy, and conflict.
Teenagers oftentimes don’t know themselves and are not well aware of their identity. This is a poem where I am exploring the different sides of my identity.
A skit about how it feels to procrastinate shown through the allegory of standing on a tower of bricks which gets taller each minute knowing you have to jump.