Foreword:
College essays, permit tests, senior prom, moving out– these are all changes that I, a rising senior in high school, am preparing to enter. But there are also smaller, less distinct ones– a last night time drive with a group of friends, a broken pinkie promise– the perpetually shifting tectonic plates of the transition from high school to whatever lies beyond. With all these changes comes a plethora of emotions. I am scared to get older, yet exhilarated at the promise of novelty. I am already preparing for homesickness despite the time stretching from now to graduation. The pieces in this collection perfectly encapsulate this theme of Coming of Age, ranging from advice about college applications to poetry about high school relationships. -Lilirose Luo
The Pressure Cooker: College Applications - Ella Ip
An open letter on the toxic culture of college applications, and advising younger students on how to best navigate it.
“This year is my last year in high school. It’s scary. SAT, extracurriculars, essays, and my GPA are always coursing through my mind. “
bearing summer, bare - Yunseo Chung
A doomsday poem about the in-between transition of summers.
“in the end it’s just / the heartbreak of another summer / come only to pass / bearing the bodies of the burning, / bare.”
Morning in the Life of a 21st Century Student by LiLi Xiong
Snapshots of a day in an average high-schooler’s life– and the larger social issues that play into it.
“You meander through the hallways, teenage angst kicking in. What do you do before class starts? Lean against the lockers? Scroll through your phone, reading whatever depressing news just broke? Or do you go find your friends?”
Humidity - Mithila Rohit Tambe
A poignant poem chronicling the delicacy and beauty of teenage bonds.
“Our strides are parallel. The clouds / are as white as hanboks, / and we are shocked / by the insanity of breathing."
