SHE. THEY. HE. WE PERSIST

Staff Writer 

 Heekyoung "Serapina" Chung is a Creative Writing (’21) student attending the Orange County School of the Arts. She enjoys writing nonfiction pieces, screenplays and reading speculative fiction, drawing inspiration from her Korean heritage along with both people and the nature around her. When she’s not writing, Serapina often listens to music in her own karaoke sessions, drives her cat crazy, and binges Planet Earth documentaries if not Korean dramas.Though serapina has never experienced first-hand discrimination concerning her own gender or sexual orientation, she strives to break down the oppressive social barriers and any sexual mold that may prevent anyone from any expression or empowerment of self-identity. 

Staff Writer

Editor 

Christina Miles (she/they) is a 17 year old performance poet and storyteller. Their writing focuses on themes of inheritance, the intersection of identity and religion, and the complexity of family ties. Their poetry has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Cold Mountain Review, and their annual school literary magazine Inkblot, of which they are on editorial staff. Their poetry has also won numerous awards, such as the Scholastic Gold Key Award and Scholastic National Gold Medalist, as well as has been nominated for Best New Poetry of 2020 by the Best New Poets organization. Their relationship with gender and sexuality is complex and constantly evolving - they identify as bisexual and genderfluid. 

Staff Artist

Editor

Kendall is a Visual Arts student at OCSA (‘23).  Her favorite mediums are digital and oil paint, and she likes painting both people and the places they inhabit.  When she’s not making art, she’s probably baking (she especially loves making bread) or eating whatever she just made.  She also has a strong interest in writing short stories, and she’s currently taking a short law class from Yale.  Her dream job would be an attorney, advocating for human rights.  By making art for She Persists, she hopes to help draw attention to issues of inequality, gender, and sexuality, and facilitate more of a worldly conversation.

 Staff Artist

Editor

Shreeya Jayabharathi is currently a junior at Troy High School. Even with her full schedule of AP and IB classes along with sports, she finds time to explore her passion for art through film, music, and paint. When she was in middle school, she figured out that she was attracted to girls, but it wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that she identified as a lesbian. She hopes to spread awareness on the struggles of LGBT people, specially those of color.  

Staff Writer

Christine Latif  is one of the blog writers for “She Persists.” Gender has played an important role in her life as a woman and she cannot wait to write about her experiences as well as what women in this world go through! Some fun facts about her are that she speaks almost fluent Armenian, and has an Australian parakeet named Jadiyn. As for hobbies, she is a writer (of course) but also loves to hike and explore different places in the world. 

Staff Writer

Editor

 Clara Szalay is a junior at the Orange County school of the arts. She is a cisgender bisexual woman and she loves science, poetry and photography. She attends the creative writing conservatory at her school and plans to pursue a medical career. In her free time she enjoys watching friends reruns and rewatching the end of a Portrait of a Lady on Fire. She is a silver medalist for the National Scholastic competition and spent her last summer interning for a microbiology lab, she loves exploring the intersection between art and science.

Staff Writer

Editor

Charlotte Brandman is an Asian-American, cisgender, gay female and a freshman at Orange County School of the Arts where she specializes in Musical Theatre. Charlotte is an advocate of equal rights for all LGBTQIA+ citizens and women’s reproductive rights. She’s an avid reader, writer, (mediocre) baker, a self-proclaimed history nerd, and she loves oolong tea. She’s dedicated to allowing difficult and controversial topics to take on new meanings and perspectives through her writing and she’s excited to be a part of the She Persists team! 

Staff Artist 

Ella Park (she/her) is a rising senior in the Acting conservatory at the Orange County School of the Arts. She has been published front cover in the international magazine Albricias and has received multiple Scholastic Gold Keys for her work in writing and art. In her free time, she enjoys baking bread, making pastries, biking with her dog and digital art. Despite her lack of style most of the time, she has a passion for fashion and social justice. 

Staff Artist 

Katie Rice is a 17-year-old upcoming senior at Orange County School Of The Arts. She is a cisgender bisexual woman who is in the Visual Arts conservatory. Katie enjoys live music, finger painting, weird jewelry, 8-Bit horror games, and any cyberpunk movie. She is super excited to explore the interpretation and fluidity of gender and sexuality within the artistic community as a part of She Persists 

 The following few members of our staff were also chosen to serve on the blog's editorial board, to review, edit and vote on submissions to the blog: 

QuynhAnh Vu

Caitlyn Mason 

Kendall Phanco

Christina Miles

Jackie Lichter

Charlotte Brandman

Shreeya Jayabharathi  

Clara Szalay

Our founder, Gaby Mikhail, is Editor in Chief and has the final say on all posted submissions. QuynhAnh Vu has executive voting power for the Art Board.