Although my writing journey started long before I even knew how to save my work, I’ve accumulated a couple examples from recent years.
Post Grad (Beyond 2023)
Here are my most recent projects. Keep an eye on this page! It’ll be updated regularly.
The Birth of Cheddar
I love cheese so much that I named my cat after it. I wanted to experiment with explaining a complex process in simple terms, while still retaining the reasoning and consequence of each individual step. I combined these two interests and examined the creation of my favorite cheese, cheddar, in a way that should be digestible for everyone (even the lactose intolerant).
Senior (2022-2023)
I stepped away from short form projects in my senior year to write a novel and novella, but still found time to craft a plethora of short stories.
The Legend of Frogboy
One of my all time favorite genres is mystery, especially when set in a small town where everyone knows everything about each other. This novella allowed me to play with the idea of a mystery brought back to life by those affected by it.
An Unabridged Guide to the Weird and Unexplainable
I’ve always loved young adult literature and wanted to try my hand at writing a cross country adventure that pays homage to my inspirations like Rick Riordan and Douglas Adams.
Junior (2021-2022)
Junior year nearly all of my classes have at least something to do with writing or reading. I wrote more than I thought possible in a single year, and loved every minute of it.
Borderwall
Before jumping into this project I did a lot of research about the extremely worrying amount of abusive homes for troubled teens. Although this story started as a supernatural thriller, I realized it might be nice to have an optimistic ending for once, especially with a topic that is already so visceral and upsettingly real.
Good Neighbor
“Good Neighbor” was a story much closer to home. A spooky tale about the terrifying cleanliness of suburbia is something I’ve been wanting to write for a while, and I’m happy I finally got the chance this semester.
Sophomore (2020-2021)
Thanks to a whole bunch of AP credits, I was able to finish most of my Gen Ed classes by my sophomore year. I took this opportunity to take even more writing classes and hone my skills.
In the Garden
I’ve always been a big horror fan. As a teenager, it was a way to overcome a lot of the fears that plagued me as a child, while also letting me explore more conceptual topics like psychology and death. I took a horror writing class my sophomore year and fell even more in love with the genre, rounding out the semester with this 22 page behemoth. Reader beware, this story definitely contains some vivid and grotesque description towards the end.
The Universal Language: Stories
I was lucky enough to take a fantastic class this year about Native Americans in cinema. The class covered the extremely awful portrayals in nickelodeons at the turn of the century all the way up to the modern masterpieces created by contemporary Native American filmmakers. In this final research paper, I wanted to explore the power of storytelling itself and its pervasiveness across any medium or culture.
Freshman (2019-2020)
Enrolling in the University of Oklahoma gave me the confidence to fully dive into my future as a writer and really put my skills to the test.
Finding a Familiar Face in The Great Gastby
Nearly everyone I know reads The Great Gatsby at some point during their academic career. As a young, doe-eyed high schooler I saw a lot of merit in the book and in its titular character Jay Gatsby. In recent years, I feel like I’ve met many Jay Gatsbys, and I think the obsessive and deeply troubled character is a lot less appealing now than it was a century ago. This essay explores that idea.
Franken-Princess: How Walt Disney Brought a Story Back to Life
My freshman year I was asked to create a research proposal that I might choose to write my thesis paper on at the end of my time at OU’s Honors College. I’ve always been a fan of Disney and their films, so I decided to analyze the birth of the company and their first film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I have since become much more interested in the criticisms surrounding the Walt Disney Company and how they effect the larger media landscape around us, but I am still proud of this paper nonetheless.