Exonians Recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Ten Exonians won national medals from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. The competition’s sponsor, the Alliance for Young Writers and Artists, awarded gold medals to senior Alex Zhang (writing, poetry), uppers Carissa Chen (poetry, painting) and Caroline Grace (poetry), lower Emma Wellington (photography) and prep Isabella Alvarez (poetry).  Numerous other Exonians also received silver medals, including seniors Mei-An Nolan and Cesar Zamudio, upper Athena Gerasoulis and preps Theodore Weaver and Wendi Yan.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is, according to its website, “the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7-12.” This year, 230,000 students applied for awards in 29 categories, which include poetry, photography, sculpture, humor, editorial cartoons, video game design and more. Past winners include Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Lena Dunham, Ken Burns and Zac Posen. 

“It honestly feels amazing to win an award that some of my favorite authors have received.”

Senior Alex Zhang, who received the program’s highest honor, Gold Portfolio, said that he was “really excited” about this achievement, more so than for his other two awards—gold and best in grade for his memoir “Father Tea,” and gold for his poem “New Year’s Fishing.”  As one of only 16 teens in the nation to receive the Gold Portfolio, he will also be granted a $10,000 scholarship. Zhang focused on his family in the pieces, particularly his father and grandmother’s influence on his life. In one piece, he used various types of tea to write about different aspects of his relationship with his father. In his pieces, Zhang also examines his cultural heritage and identity as someone who is both American and Chinese.“[My father] pushed for me to remember my roots and remember where I came from,” he said.    

Upper Carissa Chen won a gold medal for her painting “Silenced” and for her poem “Idyll,” and a silver medal for her photograph “72 Years.”  In “Idyll,” she wrote about her disillusionment with suburban life.. Coming from a mainly STEM family, Chen often considers why she writes and why art and writing matter at all. “There’s definitely art that is solely for beauty and entertainment, and that’s valuable in and of itself, but the kind of art that I’m much more drawn to is the capability that art has to offer a new perspective about a different world. You can really immerse yourself in a different scenario—to truly understand someone more, or understand your own experience in a new lens,” she said.

Both Chen and Zhang attributed part of their success to Exeter, which has helped them discover and foster their love of writing.

For Zhang, his inspiration came from English Instructor Todd Hearon, the adviser of his senior project with senior Jack Hirsch. In the project, Zhang and Hirsch will each present their individual poetry collections to the school sometime near the end of spring term. 

Chen’s inspiration to write came in the form of Pendulum, a literary and arts magazine on campus.  As a prep, Chen began submitting artwork to the magazine and gradually became involved in its writing aspect as well. Chen and Zhang are now co-Editors-in-Chief of the magazine.

Upper Caroline Grace, who was awarded a gold medal for her poem “Train Ride,” decided to submit her work after reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, which previously won an award from Scholastic. “Train Ride” takes inspiration from the beauty of the interiors of old trains. “In my poem, I wanted to convey a life cycle, a primal fear of losing my own mother,” Grace explained. Winning gold certainly felt like an accomplishment for her. She also feels grateful to be surrounded by so many gifted artists. Looking towards the next steps in her artistic journey, she is beginning to write a picture book to help raise money for a woman who researches horse prosthetics.  “I also plan on continuing to nurture my love for poetry,” she added.

Prep Isabella Alvarez also won a national award for her poetry and, like Grace, was inspired by poet Sylvia Plath. “My favorite author, Sylvia Plath, always drew from her own experiences in order to create great works of fiction and I really want to follow in her footsteps,” Alvarez said. She described her poems “Arizona,” which received a gold medal, and “The Three Scents that Define My Childhood,” which received a silver medal, as both very personal pieces. “Arizona” describes the town in which she grew up while “The Three Scents that Define My Childhood” uses sensory details to describe significant events in Alvarez’s life.

Alvarez also received the “best in grade” award for a poem she submitted last year. After attending Scholastic’s award ceremony in New York to receive that award, she felt inspired to submit more. “Going to New York to receive my award and being surrounded by other young artists inspired me to submit more pieces again this year. It honestly feels amazing to win an award that some of my favorite authors have received,” she said.

She plans to submit more work in the future, but in the meantime she will be attending a summer program at Stanford University where she will work with like-minded writers, as well as published authors, to improve her creative writing skills. In addition, Alvarez will attend a program in Argentina to work with a local newspaper that publishes articles in both English and Spanish. “I hope to expand my ability to write in other genres, such as journalism,” she said.

Recipients of this year’s Scholastic awards were both honored and inspired by the recognition the awards provide. Their peers, too, were supportive and congratulatory of students who pursue their artistic work outside of class while at Exeter.