When people look at me, they tend to just skim over me. I don't look anything special, just the kid who sits in the back of all their classes, and the one you want to be in a group project with because I'll do all the hard stuff. Some of them may know I'm a writer, some may know I play the bass guitar, most know I'm neurodivergent (just looking at me makes it kinda obvious). But the thing a the vast majority of people don't know about me is my experience with cancer. I've thankfully never had it, though I am at risk, but my mother has had two different kinds of cancer. She was diagnosed with appendix cancer when I was pretty young, so I don't remember much from that time period. What I do remember is how tired she was. She was so full of energy and life before then, and even now, it's more dulled with all the chemotherapy treatments she's been through over the years. She recovered fairly quickly from appendix cancer, especially after they removed her appendix. However, years later, when I was thirteen, during one of her yearly cancer scans, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called PMP, or Pseudomyxoma Peritonei. It sticks and spreads to all the organs in the abdomen area. For my mother, she got it from her old appendix cancer mutating and spreading. It was damaging her gallbladder, spleen, ilium, duodenum, colon, large and small intestines, and all her reproductive organs. Thankfully, we caught it really early, since they detected it during a yearly cancer scan down in Houston, but it was taking a lot out of her. I remember exactly where I was when they told me. I was sitting on the couch, watching the Disney movie Onward for the first time with my little sister. They paused it, and gently broke the news. My sister was about the same age I was when my mom was first diagnosed with cancer, so she doesn't remember it at all, but I remember how it shook me to my core. I could only remember her being tired and super weak after her surgery, and since I was older, I knew how deadly cancer is. To this day, I still can't watch that movie. I've tried. Thankfully, because of how early we caught it, she was able to get the help she needed quickly. They ended up removing most of her small intestines, gallbladder, reproductive organs, and half of her colon, and she made a full recovery, though her daily life has been completely changed. Because of how much of her intestines and colon was removed, she often has to drop everything to go to the bathroom, and it's caused a lot of issues. But, she's healthy, and living her best life as a school nurse. So, what do I want to do going into college? Well, I want to turn my writing into a career. I want to be a fantasy author, but I'm planning on studying journalism so I can keep a steady job. I want to donate a portion of my earnings from my books to nonprofits, in particular ones helping find a cure for cancer, so that people like my mom can get they help they need.

I've been writing for my entire life. Since before I could hold a pencil, I've been creating my own characters and universes, with a dream to share my stories with the world, and it's what I've wanted to do with my life since I was three. I believe that the main reason I love writing so much is because of my ADHD. I have the combination inattentive and hyperactive type, so it's heavily impacted my life in all sorts of different, extreme ways. In elementary school, during downtime, the only way I could stop myself from bouncing off the walls and making a commotion was to sit down and write stories, and my teachers loved them. I'd show them to my favorites, and they'd react so positively that I would always want to write more. In middle school, I got really into young adult works, such as Harry Potter, Divergent, and most prominently, The Hunger Games. The dystopian worlds and the magical storytelling, I adored them. I always knew I wanted to be a writer, but it was after discovering these series that I knew the kinds of stories I wanted to write. I was writing my stories on and off for a few years, losing motivation and regaining them at the drop of a hat. It was around this time when I was slowly joining fandoms, engaging with communities for games and tv shows I liked. Soon after this, my friend showed me the short stories that people would post online about these characters, and I was hooked. One of my least favorite parts of writing was coming up with fleshed out characters that weren't one-dimensional, and now you're telling me I could write using pre-existing ones? I started writing stories with my favorite characters, and after encouragement from my friend, made an account and started posting them for the world to see. I got lucky, and my first story got fairly popular, and fast. I got a good head start for my writing career, and have had a small cult following ever since. To me, getting the crazy, ADHD-driven story ideas out of my head and onto the page is one of the most satisfying parts of the process, and once I get into the zone, I'll be able to write for hours, letting my creativity flow. It's always been one of the main ways to get my energy out, which has been very useful in educational situations, where I can't run around outside to calm down. Quitting writing in college is the last thing I plan to do. In fact, I'm pursing a degree where I'll be able to expand my writing capabilities tenfold: journalism. And, if I'm able to, I'm looking to double major in creative writing. It's been my goal since I was a kid to write for a living, and although it's not exactly what I was thinking, I'm on my way to doing so, and I couldn't be more excited.

My favorite book to film adaptation has to be the Hunger Games series. It was one of the first young adult book series I read, and has a special place in my head for numerous reasons. I first discovered the Hunger Games in seventh grade, when my mom gave me her copy of the first book to read, and it was love at first sight. I never have been a big fan of first person views in books, but it was done so well that I didn't care. The way Suzanne Collins makes you feel and understand that Katniss is a child is immaculate. She's smart, but still lets her emotions get the better of her, and I have always been able to relate to that. The Hunger Games even introduced me to one of my best friends, DeLaney, who saw I was reading it in English class and asked me how I liked it. I still hang out with her constantly, and we plan on rooming together in college. By the time I discovered the Hunger Games, all of the original movies and books had been released, so I was able to get Katniss' full story all at once. The moment I finished reading, I watched the movies, and I was blown away by the detail. The way the camera is shaky in the districts and arena, and steady in the capital in makes the viewer subconsciously recognize how privileged and easy living in the capital is. The sets were incredible, no stone left unturned, and it truly feels like you're living in that world. And the cast! Jennifer Lawrence was the perfect Katniss, especially with her voice, it was exactly how I imagined her sounding when reading the books. Josh Hutcherson perfectly captured the essence and innocence that Peeta had, and I firmly believe there was no better options for Haymitch and Effie then Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks. The casting for Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray Baird in TBOSBAS was perfect, and I fell in love with their characters after watching. In fact, the movie for Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was what got me to truly enjoy the book. While reading, I felt a disconnect for the characters, especially Snow. I was worried about giving the villain from the main series a backstory book, because I was afraid of it ruining his character for me, but it ended up making me see President Snow in a whole new light, and it made him one of my favorites. In all, The Hunger Games is a book and movie series that I reread and rewatch constantly. I'm rereading the series now to prepare for the new book coming out next month, which is Haymitch's point of view from his Hunger Games. Words cannot describe how excited I am, and I can't wait to see how they do the movie adaptation in 2026.

My name is Luna Rehn. I am a 17-year-old high school senior who has lived in Texas, specifically Collin County, my entire life. I work at a pet store, I am the oldest of two, and I have four pets. Ever since I could hold a pencil, I've been writing stories. Even before that, I would spew off random tales to my mother for her to write down for me. I have ADHD, so I've always been extraordinarily creative, and my stories never seemed to disappoint. My mom would read them to some of my extended family members during get togethers, and I would always stand proud as people laughed and applauded. So, for essentially my entire conscious life, I have wanted to be an author, high fantasy specifically. Something about it always clicked with me. Whether it was because it satisfied my overflowing imagination, or it fed my escapism, or it was always above my grade's reading level, like I was, I don't know. But something about it resonated with me, and I instantly fell in love with it. An issue, though, has always been my Aphantasia, an uncommon neurological characteristic that makes it so I cannot form mental images. While there is no scientific evidence yet, people believe that there may be a link connecting Aphantasia to ADHD, which is most likely how I have it. As you can imagine, this has been a hinderance on my writing journey, especially when my favorite genre to write is highly dependent on visualizing things that don't exist in order to put them into words. However, I like going online and finding drawings that people have made as references. Most people would say that authors can't have a big positive impact on the world. They say this because their minds default to occupations such as doctors, firefighters, police officers, or government officials. And while it is true that compared to such jobs, authors don't have that much of impact on the world, but we still have a lot. Take the Lord of The Rings, for example. J.R.R Tolkien helped create a plethora of new genres for novels, including fantasy as a whole. The Diary of Anne Frank helped the entire world gain first-hand understanding of what happened to Jewish people during World War II. So, what do I hope to accomplish with my writing? My primary goal is to write stories that people can relate to. There are a large amount of minorities that don't get the representation they deserve in all kinds of media, from movies to books. I want to be able to conduct interviews with people from all different ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, countries, languages, and beliefs, and be able to portray a wide variety of characters that people can find comfort or enjoyment in.

I have been writing since before I could hold a pencil. There's a notebook somewhere filled with pages and pages of stories I had my mom write for me, with illustrations I would draw myself. Being a writer has been my life goal from a very young age, and it hasn't changed. The only part of my goals that has changed over the years is what I'm planning on studying in college. I love writing. It's become a form of escapism for me. Whenever things go crazy, I know I can destress by writing or reading my favorite stories. And I know that a lot of other people in the world feel the same way. Reading transports you into different worlds, even different universes, and lets your imagination run wild. I have Aphantasia, where I can't visually imagine things in my head, so reading and writing character descriptions out onto the page is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. I have had my first job for around a month now. I work part-time for Pet Supplies Plus, a pet store with different locations around America. They don't sell too many animals, at least not my location, but we do have fish and reptiles, as well as a cat given to us by Operation Kindness, as the've found more cats get adopted at our store. Whenever the cat gets adopted, we get a new one from them. I get to run the register, clean the in-house dog washing stations, organize shelves, and other basic tasks. I haven't been working there very long, so I can't take care of the animals on my own, but I'd love to start doing that more often. I want to go to school for journalism. I used to want to study creative writing, but now I'm planning on doing that as my minor. I'm going to do journalism in school, because it makes for a good backup plan, or something to make money while I write my novels on the side. Being an independent author, like I want to be, can be extremely difficult to make a living off of. Books don't take off, places won't sell your books, and other things like that can really hinder your progress as a writer. So, I want to be a journalist, so I know I can make enough to live while I write my books on the side.

My name is Luna, I'm a seventeen-year-old in McKinney, Texas, and I hope to go to college for professional writing. I want to either be a journalist, news broadcaster, or fantasy author. I have been writing since before I could hold a pencil, and I've always wanted to write for my career. I also play the bass, and love 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s rock. My favorite bands are Green Day, The Offspring, and The Smashing Pumpkins. I have four animals, two dogs and two cats, one of those cats being mine specifically. Her name is Roxy, and she's a fluffy orange tabby! I have been volunteering in my community for around two years now. I started during the summer before my junior year, when I decided to take on the Greencord challenge. You need to get a hundred hours of volunteer work done in a single school year in order to earn the cord for graduation. It was such a great experience, being able to work for countless nonprofits that give back to the community. My favorite that I have been doing since the very start is Streetside Showers. It's a nonprofit with locations in North Texas and Central Florida. They have trucks with three showers in each, and they park outside of churches that give up their parking lots once a week for them to reside for a few hours. During those hours, homeless people can come and get a shower. We provide them with free shampoo, conditioner, body wash, towels lotion, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other sanitary products. We also have clothing that's cheap to buy, and all of it, including the sanitary products, are donated directly to Streetside Showers. And, we occasionally have a hairstylist to cut hair, and a food bank have hot meals to give out. We've also been working on providing a truck with washer and dryers, so people can do their laundry. Another place I volunteered with for a bit is called Feed My Starving Children. They have meal packets with plenty of nutrients that volunteers pack and seal, that get sent off to countries with a high population of children that don't have good access to food. There was also countless others that I only got to volunteer with once or twice, such as a nonprofit that cleaned up parks. I was able to get that Greencord, but that wasn't the stop of me wanting to give back to my community. It's not volunteering, but I work at a pet store that partners with Operation Kindness, an animal shelter, and we get cats from them to be adopted. So far, this year, we've had 70 cats adopted! And, with my writing, I want to give back as well. I have plans of having twelve different charities, one for each month, to donate a certain amount of my profits to if I get big and have the money to do so. It'll be places like The Trevor Project, Streetside Showers, Operation Kindness, and others.

My art medium is my writing. I have been writing short stories since I could hold a pencil. Scratch that, I've been writing even before I could hold a pencil. I have a small book with a short story my mom wrote for me because I couldn't write yet. I've been writing fantasy since I was eight, and I started posting them, as well as fanfiction, in September of 2021. Writing has been something of a saving grace for me. It's gotten me through some of the most difficult times of my life. I can't draw or paint anything legible, no matter how much I want to learn animation, and I've only just started playing the bass guitar, so writing has always been a way of therapy for me. I can write about anything I want, make my characters do and be whatever I want. It's been a way for me to feel in control of something when everything else in my life was spiraling out of control. The best example of this was when my mom had cancer for the second time, in 2020. That was when I started writing a lot. It was constant, and I was writing in class, at home, on the road, anywhere I could. I ended up posting a few of those a year later when I started sharing them online. Though, it hasn't come without struggles. I have something called aphantasia, which is essentially the lack of an inner eye. While most people can close their eyes and imagine anything, me and 2-5% of the world's population are physically unable to see anything at all. Combining this, my ADHD, and my love for writing high fantasy, and you could see how it could hinder me when I write. But, I've come up with some solutions, mainly looking up scenery to base my words off of. I believe that I am passionate about writing, not just because of being able to get my imagination out onto the page, but because I am now able to share it with the world. I post my writings on Tumblr and Archive of Our Own, and have developed a small cult following of people who love to read my stuff, as well as thousands of others who have read one or two of my stuff. I've met a bunch of people online who are also writers, and I run a Tumblr community for MCYT writers, and it's going great! I'm really happy with where I am in my life, academically and creatively.

I have always been the "therapist friend", and I love doing that. I take pride in being someone whose trustworthy enough to vent to, and someone who people go to for advice. I've been dealing with my own mental health for years, and while I've got a good grasp on it, I know a lot of other people don't, and struggle with it every day. I don't plan on majoring in psychology, or any medical degree for that matter. However, I want to be a fantasy author and a journalist, and it's my goal in my personal writing to bring awareness to minority groups through my characters. It started with a story I used to have, where four students met each other through their school's special education program, but unfortunately, I was in way over my head with all of the different disabilities that I had wanted to portray. But, while that story was scrapped, it started the journey of making characters that I could accurately write and bring good representation into the world. I want to use my stories to make racial, ethnic, LGBTQ, disability, and economic awareness and representation, and hopefully, someone will resonate with them.

My favorite concert memory was from just a few weeks ago, on September 11th, 2024. I saw Green Day in concert for the 30th anniversary of their album "Dookie", and the 20th anniversary of their album "American Idiot", so they sang the entirety of both albums. It was my first time seeing them in concert, and it was the best day of my life. Green Day has always been and will always be incredible when it comes to stage presence. They get the crowd involved so often, replacing city names in songs to the place they are performing in, and it always gets a response from the audience. They have a song where the entire chorus was made to be performed live by a crowd, which happens to be my favorite song, "Are we the waiting". There was a short segment where they declared it a no-phones-zone, and it was great to just live in the moment for that song. I genuinely believed that concert changed my life, because I don't think I can listen to their music the same way again. Billie Joel Armstrong has such a strong and unique voice that sets him apart from a lot of other artists from his time. Mike Dirnt was one of my biggest inspirations to start learning the bass, and I'm currently learning their song "Holiday"! And Tré Cool is so skilled with the drums, he makes me want to try and learn that as well. Now, my first concert memory is a little fuzzy, but it was a Grateful Dead cover band, and I went to it with my dad, his brother, and my grandpa, when I was around eight to nine years old. My grandpa had been a huge Grateful Dead fan for as long as he could remember, so it was really cool to be able to take him to that concert. It was a lot more relaxed then the Green Day concert, and instead of being in a stadium with assigned seating, it was in an open grass field, and we brought towels and a picnic basket. I was grateful (pun!) for this because as a young kid, I couldn't sit still for more than fifteen minutes without needing to jump up and run around. It was my first time seeing people play music live for a crowd, and it was really cool to me. I still have the ticket! Music is a huge part of my life. I hate silence, so I almost always have some music playing in my ears, when I'm running, doing homework, and even eating. A big part of that was because my dad takes me to a lot of live performances. I've seen that Grateful Dead cover band, Boygenius, Green Day, and this Saturday, on the 28th, I'm going with my dad to see Future Islands!

My AVID teacher, Mrs. D'Annibale, is without a doubt the best teacher I have ever had in my life. I've had her for the past four years, excluding junior year, and she was completely changed my life. For some context, I was diagnosed with ADHD, both hyperactive and inattentive, in Kindergarten, and depression and GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) in the second grade. Because of all this, especially my ADHD, school has been a bit of a struggle for me. Being on medication has helped greatly, but I've always had a lot of issues with things like note taking and having the motivation to study. I don't think I studied until I entered high school. Mrs. D has been such a lifesaver, helping me learn how to take proper notes, and I wouldn't have gotten the grades I had now if not for her. However, she has helped me far more than just academically. When I first went into ninth grade, my mother had been rediagnosed with cancer. She had appendix cancer when I was young, but it had come back as PMP, or Pseudomyxoma Peritonei. Basically, it was infecting every organ in her abdomen and stomach area. Thankfully, we had caught it early, and she had a very high chance of survival. But, being fourteen years old, it was really hard on me. On the first day of school, I was dragging my feet, dreading everything. I didn't want to go to school, I just wanted to be at home with my mom. But, my parents insisted I had to go. I walked into Mrs. D's class during last period, and once the bell rang, she did something I hadn't expected. She sat us down in a circle, introduced herself, and started telling us her story. We were horrified. Between suicide, the loss of her parents, and her daughters, we couldn't believe what we were hearing. It seemed so odd, for a teacher to open up like that on the first day of school. But, it really did something for me. It made my brain realize that she was someone I could trust with my own struggles. I told Mrs. D'Annibale what was going on with my mom a few weeks into the school year. She pulled me into a hug, something I really needed at the time, and told me that she would be there for me whenever I needed her. It felt like a thousand pound weight was taken off my shoulders. I hadn't even told my closest friends about my mom at the time. She was the first one I told personally. She followed through on her promise. On bad days, she was right there to listen to me. She celebrated with me when she was announced cancer free. She was the first person I told when I got my SAT scores back. When I got my first job, when I got accepted into my dream college, every step of my life since I met her, she's been there for me. And that's something I could never forget.

From the moment I entered preschool, I always felt like something was wrong with me. I was so different from the other kids, and I felt isolated. I was so much louder, had much more energy, and was a troublemaker. I would trip people misstep because they would "fall better." (Yes, that is a direct quote from five-year-old me.) I would run from my parents in the grocery store. My teachers definitely had their hands full with me, and my parents had no idea how to handle me. The behavioral issues continued into Kindergarten. The thing was, my grades were perfectly fine. In fact, my grades were higher than average. I just couldn't sit still or focus for more than a few minutes at a time. I would constantly get up out of my chair and wander the class during lessons, I wouldn't stop talking, and my parents would receive a phone call from my teacher every day because the clip with my number was always in the red. I'm very grateful for my teacher, as she was highly patient with me, despite everything. She even gave me a chair with wobbly legs so I could fidget while staying in my seat. After waiting a while to see if I'd mature, my parents took me to a psychologist where I was diagnosed with ADHD. I got on medication, and the first day I went to school with them, my parents got another call from my teacher. They were worried that it would be bad, that I was still causing trouble, but my teacher had called them, in tears, because I went up to her and told her "I feel so smart today!". I was sitting in my chair, I was paying attention and asking questions, I was making friends, and for the first time that school year, my clip was in the green all day. She was proud of me, my parents were proud of me, and I was proud of myself. Over a decade later, I'm seventeen, a high school senior, and doing so much better. Last summer, I went to a journalism conference in Washington, D.C. I'm focusing so much better, and earned a 1300 on my SAT. I've made fictional stories and post them online since September, 2021. It's my favorite hobby, it brings so much joy in my life, and I know that my ADHD really helps me do that. My ADHD makes me a more creative person because it allows me to have bigger and better ideas. My brain never turns off, it's constantly running at full speed. My mom and I like to joke that my brain and body are a Formula 1 engine in an old, broken down truck. But, it has it's advantages, especially with my writing. I'm able to find inspiration anywhere. I keep a notebook on my bedside table because I'm constantly getting new ideas when I'm going to sleep that I want to remember. I firmly believe that my writing wouldn't be nearly as good as it is if I was neurotypical. This really helps me for my career as well, as I want to be an author. I have dreams of writing and publishing fantasy novels and using my stories to help people. I want to have good inclusivity and have lessons about being LGBTQ or neurodivergent and help people accept and embrace who they are by helping them relate to my characters the way I do. I want to change the world, and I believe my neurodivergency is going to help me accomplish my goals in that.

Growing up, I always felt very different from the other kids in my school. I was never able to keep friends for very long, I got distracted easily, and I couldn’t seem to turn off my brain. In the first grade, I was diagnosed with ADHD, and started taking medications. I was able to do my school work better, getting good grades for the first time, and socializing was working out for me, but I still felt different from everyone else. In the seventh grade, I had my first interaction with the LGBTQ+ community with my cousin, who was getting married to her girlfriend. It was a beautiful wedding, but it was the first time it registered in my head that there could be relationships beyond the typical male and female. It also made me realize that I wasn’t aware of what being in love felt like. So, I went up to a few of my classmates who I knew had a crush or two, and asked them what it felt like. They told me that when you look at someone you have a crush on, your stomach does little flips, you can’t take your eyes off them, and you’ll get nervous around them. It wasn’t the best description of love, but what they said all lined up with how I was feeling about my best friend at the time, who was a girl. I asked them if they had ever had a crush on someone of their same gender, and that’s when things changed between us. They looked at me weird, saying how they either don’t think that’s possible, or it was just plain weird, because they only knew relationships with one male and one female, both in real life and through the media. From that moment to the end of my middle school life, I was looked at by those girls as the weird kid who said she might like girls. They never used the term gay because we didn’t know what it was or what it meant yet. Back then, a lot of us didn’t know that word until we got into highschool. Entering ninth grade was the time I started looking up how I was feeling, and how I learned a lot of the terminology. I figured that bisexuality was the best term for me, and, being the excited little kid I was, decided to tell people I trusted that I was bisexual. This, however, turned out to be my downfall. My ‘boyfriend’ at the time was the first person I decided to tell, because I thought I could trust him with it. However, I had mistaken his claims that “Jesus loves everyone regardless of who you are” was just that, and he started berating me, telling me how I was going to go to hell if I ever acted on it, and that if I went to church with him, they could purify me and make me straight again. The worst part about all of it was that he was genuinely afraid for me. It wasn’t an intentional manipulation tactic, it was him scared that I wouldn’t get into heaven. He wanted the best for me, in terms of what he believed in, but it was going against who I was. Things got better, slowly. After leaving him, cutting contact with him, I slowly started feeling better about my identity. I came out to my parents a year later, and now it’s a part of who I am, and I love this part of myself. Now, I identify as panromantic, asexual, and non-binary, They/Them.

My mother has had appendix cancer and Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP). PMP is a type of rare cancer that sticks and spreads to organs in the abdomen. The first time, I was around six or seven, and it didn't impact me that much. She had the cancer killed through chemo, and the doctors reassured us that it wouldn't come back. They also told us that appendix cancer, while rare, was almost never deadly. After that, my mother went to Houston once a year, in late July, for scans to make sure it hadn't shown up again. Every year, when she left, I would be dropped off with my dad's parents, or my moms parents would come down and babysit me and my little sister. At first, I was just excited to see my grandparents and spend some time with them, but as I got older, the visits would fill me with anxiety. I wouldn't be able to sleep properly until we got the call that she was still cancer-free. But, when I was around thirteen-years-old, my mom wasn't feeling well. She was constantly tired and in pain, and she had a feeling that the cancer had returned. She went to her doctor in Houston early, towards the end of my seventh grade year. It was really difficult for me, and I couldn't focus on anything at all. The good part was, this was in mid 2020, so my education wasn't really affected since we were still on quarantine. A few weeks into my eight-grade year, in August of 2020, she sat me and my sister down and told us that her cancer was back, this time as PMP. When she had her appendix removed, the doctors didn't realize that it had spread. This time, it was much worse, damaging her gallbladder, spleen, ilium, duodenum, colon, large and small intestines, and all her reproductive organs. After that, time was a blur. My grades were dropping substantially and my teachers were growing very concerned for me. Thankfully, after removing most of her small intestines, gallbladder, appendix, reproductive organs, and half of her colon, she was announced cancer free again, and she's been good ever since. Even now, as a high school senior, those Houston visits still put a pause on everything else in my life. We had to delay her 2024 visit to mid-August, during my third week of school. As I'm writing this, she'll be leaving this weekend, and I'm already incredibly nervous about it. I'm going to tell my teachers the situation, and hope that for the duration of this trip, they'll be at least a little lenient with me. The reasonable part of my mind knows that she'll be fine, she's been feeling great and has no worries about being sick again. However, there's always going to be that voice in the back of my head telling me that there's a chance.