“This piece represents the hardships that I have endured in my life. The textures, found objects, spray paint and even the glitter offer a glimpse into who I am as a girl becoming a woman. The world has shown me pain and neglect from my alcoholic mother, which is represented by the nails as I […]

I was already eight, but I still had no words. One winter in second grade, nai nai and gong gong visited us. As they stepped through the door to leave, my father gave me a quick glance, raising his eyebrows and nudging his head toward my Chinese grandparents. But there was nothing for me to […]

“I am different because I’m an outlier.  I am constantly taking the path less taken.  Everyone else fits nicely into categories and groups and I am that one piece in the puzzle that doesn’t fit.  My drawing represents my outside persona which is happy, free-spirited with coachella vibes.  My outgoing nature and my bold clothing […]

 I was an alien. Simultaneously trapped in two different worlds that loved and hated me. My feelings were a puzzle I could not put together. Perhaps I didn’t belong in this world. Perhaps the world didn’t belong to me. I remember hearing the judgements and looks from across the room. They snickered at my mother […]

My work deals with my ADHD that I live with on a day to day basis. It makes a lot of things difficult for me. Expressing my thoughts and feelings through words is something I have never been able to do well. Once I found photography, it made things somewhat easier for me. I celebrate […]

I remember your eyes like juniper and mint leaves, the eyes you said held me when I was just a twinkle in your mind. Narrowing at the girl who refused to sit on my bed because I was too dark, and brown paint stained. The first moment I remember looking up at you, your hair […]

                Just as women are put under a lot of pressure to act feminine, men are put under even more pressure to act masculine. Usually, if a man/woman doesn’t conform to the stereotypical behaviors and image of a “manly man” or “girly girl” then they are ostracized or […]

Five, six, seven, eight: a count off before you begin a dance. This was screamed every time we’d start a dance at a theatre company I’d lost interest in two years ago. The wood floor was pulled up in some spots, the walls were a dirty color of salmon and the wide mirror in front […]

“Wow, your hair is so weird! Elliot, feel this!” Though I did not know what it was at the time, I first experienced what can be called a microaggression on my first day at the Maret School, where I am currently in 11th grade. I was a 6th grader at the time and I was […]

                This work deals with women’s inner conflict with body image. The figure refuses to look at herself, disinterested in her appearance and unwilling to accept it. But she spots an escape to her conflict – she spots knowledge and wisdom, a book at her feet. I believe […]

Knowing who you are comes from knowing your past.  That’s what most people think, though not everyone leaves their homeland as a baby.  In the spring of 1999, when I was six months old, I traveled from China to the United States with my adoptive parents.  Raised in New Jersey, I tried to absorb life […]

My name is Naomi and I am 14 years old. I just made the varsity tennis team which is great because I love tennis. I also love my toy poodle, Rocky, and hanging with my friends. When I was in 4th grade I was diagnosed with celiac disease which means if I ingest gluten it can […]

Time and time again, I’ve grown up hearing that my teenage years are supposed to be the best years of my life. It just so happens that they were also the years in which most of my “differences” manifested. Like many teenagers in my generation, I play host to a small group of mental disorders, […]

While to some people this piece may seem like a disarray of chaotic doodles, to me, it is an illustration of me and my personality. Every character is unique and individual, and all of them coexist to display who I really am, no matter how unorganized, weird, and strange it may seem.  

  RBC Flaunt It Award: Writing Finalist     Statement   My piece deals with the struggles of a young girl growing up, trying meet her father’s expectations in every way and pushing herself until she cannot do anymore. She’s different than what her father wants her to be like, a different daughter than who […]