This piece is very special to me because I connect with it on a deeper level. It brings emotions to me that I never thought I could feel.

I wrote this story, because I feel like it relates a lot to modern times. A lot of my friends went through the pain of having their family split up, and I wanted to support them via a creative work, but also give it a positive twist.

I write poetry because the stars can sing and the moon can cry. And because the words don't have to make sense; they just have to make you care. And of course, saying "I'm a poet" makes you seem classy. And we all want to be classy, right? Well, okay, there's that small part of everyone that wants to absolutely let loose and act like a Neanderthal, but we don't talk about that...

it is about a girl who has to face a hard time on her island and she has been holding a dark secret for 18 dark years.

Sometimes it's hard to identify with one group, or multiple groups, especially if you were born into it. As a Vietnamese American girl, who is also a member of the LGBTQ community, that also believes in a Christian God, I was left very confused of where I should be, or of where my "loyalties" should lie.

I am a 2nd generation Filipino-American on my mother’s side, but so often feel disconnected from the culture, particularly because I cannot speak or understand Tagalog. “Your Language of Song” is an attempt to explore my relationship with the beautiful, melodic language that colors my childhood memories.

The world we live in is slowly devolving towards human-caused climate catastrophe, and for individuals of my generation, the knowledge of that fact is omnipresent.

When I lost someone I loved, life never got easier when the world went on and I was still in a state of grief. No words can be used to describe how difficult it is to move on from the passing of a loved one.

This piece is about a teenage boy who made a mistake. He got angry and, in a blurry haze, commits an act that is so horrendous he forgets what happened. When he's arrested, however, it all comes back out, the words spilling out of his mouth.

My Girl Scout camp came within feet of burning down in a wildfire. I am upset about the lack of climate action from the government and consumerism of Americans.

Its a peices of artwork that express emotions people go through, and I appeal to children who feel as if they cant speak or be heard and need a writing to relate to and feel comfortable. I want them to feel at home and notice that its not just you and people are going through the same experience and we can help and hear you.

For this piece, I was inspired by Gothic writing that we had been reading in class, and wanted to write a gothic short story about a fairy tale that I grew up hearing as a kid. I tried to remake Snow White in a Gothic style of writing, and made it from the Evil Queens perspective leading to what happened in the fairy tale.

This is a love letter to my friend. It is also my story. Writing this felt extremely cathartic and gave me a place to express my endless gratitude to my friend for being there for me, even when she needed someone to be there for her.

I am like many other Americans. Born to immigrant parents- experiencing a culture that seems so unlike anyone around me- feeling so out of place. Writing is a way for me to share the world that I am growing up it. The view of a honest, innocent child who lives in an immigrant family. The clash of expectation. Of culture.

I once read a book I really liked. I think the best way to describe the book was youth. The youth that does not come from spring, but from summer. Vibrant. Beautiful. Tall green trees with sunlight filtering through it. Unyielding.

I wrote this poem for my 9th grade culminating project and read it at my 9th grade graduation. Generally, my artistic process involves coming up with a broad idea of what I want the piece to be like, and then I just start writing, taking inspiration from the story I’ve created.

I wrote this after a period of rapid change in my life and it is supposed to reflect how I felt at that time.

My goal for this was to try and effectively communicate the setting within the 500 word limit. While doing so is difficult, I think I did a pretty good job, even if I had to omit some details for brevity. One of the major things I would have expanded on more if given I had more words is that this is Sci-Fi and takes place in an alien world.

This poem is based on the greatness of a mother.

My original poem is about my struggles as a biracial woman with no help to navigate the word. In this poem I talk about what I heard growing up. Starting with how I looked making me not fit in. I then talked about how people said I didn’t act a certain way, the way society expected me to act.