Melodrama Literary Magazine 2022

drama Melodrama vol. 3 | PERSPECTIVES

ladue horton watkins high school 2022

BEA TALBOTT digital

Nothing is Lost

melodrama | vol. 3

Editorial Policy: Melodrama is a literary magazine created as an extracurricular activity by staffers of Ladue Publications and student body submissions reviewers at Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Melodrama accepts submissions of any writing, art, photo or video throughout the school year via Google Form. Detailed submissions guidelines are provided to the submitters throughout the submission process. Submissions are reviewed by a student editorial board at monthly meetings and accepted, rejected or deferred based on quality, quantity and similarity of subject matter. Melodrama only accepts submissions from current students of Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Melodrama reserves the right to edit student writing for grammar errors that are not intentional, stylistic choices, and reserves the right to design the magazine using elements from visual pieces that do not misrepresent art or prevent the unaltered work itself from being featured prominently. Melodrama requests permission from creators before making any image alterations and grammar edits.

Mission Statement: Melodrama is a literary magazine with the intention of showcasing the art, writing, photography and videography of the Ladue Horton Watkins High School student body. Our purpose is to be an outlet for student expression and accurately reflect the diversity and creativity of our school community.

Ladue Horton Watkins High School 1201 S. Warson Road, St. Louis, Mo 63124 April 2022 | Volume 3 laduepublications.com (314) 993-6447 ext. 5844 publications01@ladueschools.net School Population: 164 faculty. 1311 students. 1,475 total

01

02 mixed media

Silhouettes in a Box

TAI MOORE

april 2022

Welcome to the third volume of Ladue’s literary magazine, Melodrama. Founded by Ladue alums Cassie Beisheim (‘20) and Anna Liner (‘20), Melodrama started out as an arts-and-culture magazine containing a mix of typical newsmagazine articles and student submissions, with the goal of creating a publication that reflected the student body’s identity and interests. Now, Melodrama is an anthology of student art, writing, music and video. Ladue is full of students who may not have a place to show off their identity, voice and talent, and we wanted to provide an outlet for the creative work of our student body.

This year’s theme was guided by submissions received. Nearly every piece played with perception, focus, identity and how we see the world around us. In a time where everyone seems to see things differently, and in the stage of our lives where we are navigating our own identities, opinions and points-of-view, one theme stood out: perspectives.

Each piece has a perspective of its own — a different way of seeing the world that we hope you’ll step into as you read. The lit mag is divided into four sections: location, perception, motion and time. These are four key aspects that work together to create our perspective — whether a literal

location providing us with a different vantage point, or time after an event providing us with space for reflection — and each piece strongly represents at least one of these four elements.

Each section is designed with a distinct element that reflects the aspect of perspective it focuses on. The location section has camera viewfinders that “focus in” on each image. Perception pieces are framed by images found within each piece.

Shapes trace the “movement” implied within pieces from the motion section. Finally, the time section is accompanied by long, waving lines to represent the threads of time. We chose to open the magazine with two art pieces that fit together all four elements: Nothing is Lost by Bea Talbott and Silhouettes in a Box by Tai Moore. Both pieces play with location, how we perceive our surroundings, motion and time, and beyond this, they both sum up why perspective is so important — it informs how we interact with the world and each other.

Before we end our letter, we can’t forget our thank-yous. First, thank you to our submissions reviewers, editors and designers for navigating a still-pretty-new system with us. Whether you are a returning staff member, new to Melo (or, in

some special cases… both), your patience, work, time and dedication make Melo possible (and a lot of fun!) Second, thank you beyond words to our journalism adviser, Mrs. Kirksey, for her genuinely endless patience, time and help, whether it’s answering questions, dealing with our scheduling shenanigans or letting us get away with an 80-page lit mag. Finally, thank you to everyone who submitted work, and all of you reading Melodrama. We truly enjoyed getting to review every single piece. Thank you for trusting us enough with your art and writing, and of course, we’re so glad you’re reading now.

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Dear Reader,

Sincerely, Rhea Patney Editor in Chief

Oviya Srihari Editor in Chief

Olivia Hu

Junior Editor in Chief

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Table of Contents 00 Nothing is Lost 02 Silhouettes in a Box

Bea Talbott art Tai Moore art

22 Inside My Head

LOCATION 07 Postcards for a distant relative 08 Window of Escape 09 Temple Ruin 10 Expanding Drought

24 What You Don’t See Abigail Jansen art Sarana Xu photo

26 Cards for Good Vibes

Eileen Suarez art

28 Leonardo da Vinci remake 29 figure in space

Avinash Kamath poetry

30 blink of an eye

Isabella Dodson photo

31 Twice’s Sana

12 Somewhere Peaceful

Riley Oberman art

32 Sarah’s Paintings

14 Beach Sunset 15 Misty Falls

Theoren Miller photo Sarana Xu photo

16 Fireflies’ Repose

Olivia Culleton poetry

17 Hidden Blossoms

Phoebe Chen art

18 Red Shutters 19 Foods on the Loose 20 Painted Hand cast Nr. 1

Adam Fernandez photo Tai Moore art Abby Soldwish-Zoole art

34 Perfection 36 self portrait in oil pastel 37 Main Street pt.1 38 The Girl with the Chestnut Hair 39 Bonsai

Elle Dixon art Natasha Theusch art Emma Gan photo Sassy Saleeby art Sarah Pernik art Emma Margraf prose Gray Baker art Natasha Theusch art Emily Yang poetry Jiya Singh art

40 creation + connection

Gray Baker art

41 Joker

Jaelyn Lever art

42 Triangle 43 emotions

04

Emma Margraf photo Sylvia Hanes photo

Theoren Miller photo

Elle Dixon art

Plattana (Lalin) Seagrave art

25 a heartbroken love letter

11 Waterlilies 13 Van Gogh Ink Remake

april 2022

PERCEPTION

Ana Childs-Klein photo Erica Shi art

44 Skating into Sunshine 46 if birds can fly, why can’t i?

47 wings out 48 Jewels Above & Below

TIME Isabella Dodson photo Max Yang art Ana Childs-Klein photo Daphne Golden poetry

62 capacity

Micky Chyu art

64 I, death

Nyla Robinson poetry

65 graveyard of dreams

Max Yang art

66 Looking Back

Max Yang art

67 Grandpa

Tai Moore art

49 Lighting Up The Sea

anonymous photo

50 Lighting Up The Sea (cont.)

anonymous photo

68 I Am Still Alive

52 Pro-Caution

Levi Miller poetry

69 Skull Anatomy

54 Love is full of sacrifice 55 owie theres oil in my eyes

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MOTION

Ronan Agrawal art

69 Mossy Rock

Ronan Agrawal art

70 Eight Thousand Miles Connected

Emma Margraf photo Elle Dixon art Theoren Miller photo Avinash Kamath prose

56 Tears of Oil

Avinash Kamath poetry

72 Alarm Clock

Ava Hagen art

57 I am Earth

Emma Margraf photo

73 Baba Yaga

Ava Hagen art

Matan Cohn poetry

74 Creativity

Annie Li art

75 to little me,

Sylvia Hanes poetry

76 Daydream

Kelly Zhang art

58 Ice in the Soil, Wind in the Morning 59 Sorrowful Boy 60 Reflection 61 Cercis canadensis

Kamryn Sample photo Phoebe Chen art Kian Howe art

05

april 2022

Location 06

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ABIGAIL JANSEN

watercolor

Postcards for a Distant Relative

07

SARANA XU

photo

april 2022

Window of Escape

08

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THEOREN MILLER

Temple Ruin

photo

09

AVINASH KAMATH

poetry

Expanding Drought Smashing cities into the water, Buildings rise above and on top of the life, Driving it out.

Drying it out.

Drying out the water of its life and itself.

Schools of fish unable to learn the flow of the river, Tortoises have their exteriors stained by Shell.

april 2022

The river comes to a halt, Receding as the thick slabs of brick entangled with wire and light Only grow evermore.

Eyes set out for the water with lust, Pillaging its treasure And leaving dust.

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The crocodile, once with a stomach full of prey, Now has skin full of belongings.

The sticks lay dormant and untouched As the beaver loses its fur.

As the roads grow longer The people more plenty And the hands more greedy, The rushing of the stream slowly regresses to a pathetic trickle.

The invaders do not see its value.

They dislike the water when they cannot control it.

They view it as ugly, dirty, and uncouth.

They may never understand, That even the most mud-filled swamps glisten in the sunlight.

photo

Waterlilies

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ISABELLA DODSON

11

12 ink

Somewhere Peaceful

RILEY OBERMAN

april 2022

Van Gogh Ink Remake

ELLE DIXON ink

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13

THEOREN MILLER

photo

april 2022

Beach Sunset

14

photo

Misty Falls

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SARANA XU

15

OLIVIA CULLETON

poetry

april 2022

Fireflies’ Repose

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Yellow grasses turn silver in the light of the moon,

To discuss silence and its reverent nature,

Sleepily they hum and shiver, whispering their quiet hymns.

The way it can seem so very loud, heavy with rhapsodous weeping,

Cornflowers yawn as the fireflies flicker,

Or the soft sort of hope that blooms with spring daisies.

Carrying on about rain, or a misty june evening,

They’ll speak ceaselessly in voices of silk and fire,

Or whatever it is that fireflies talk about.

About orchids and the meaning of life.

Stars drape low and silent amongst this voiceless conversation,

For now, at least, the stars are quiet,

Standing in noiseless solidarity over the velvet surface of the sky.

Content to watch yellow grasses turn silver in the light of the moon,

Perhaps tomorrow the stars will speak,

Listening with the cornflowers to the fireflies’ soft repose,

Coaxed into sermon by the moon’s quiet promptings,

As they carry on about rain, or a misty june evening,

Their voices rich, and as musical as cellos.

Or whatever it is that fireflies talk about.

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PHOEBE CHEN

watercolor

Hidden Blossoms

17

april 2022

18

ADAM FERNANDEZ

Red Shutters

photo

digital

Foods on the Loose

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TAI MOORE

19

april 2022

20

ABBY SOLDWISH-ZOOLE

paint

Painted Hand Cast Nr. 1

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21

PLATTANA (LALIN) SEAGRAVE

pencil

april 2022

Inside My Head

22

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Perception

23

april 2022

24

EMMA MARGRAF

photo

What You Don’t See

poetry

a heartbroken love letter

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SYLVIA HANES

you were strong and soft and safe you were sweater weather and the sound of rain you were the feeling of being warm in bed on a cold day you were hot cocoa and marshmallows you were thunderstorms and the rainbows that came afterwards you were scary movies and laughing so hard it hurt you were sun and tan lines and summer and orange leaves and flannel and fall you were corny jokes and cheesy quotes you were stargazing and the smell of cookies fresh from the oven you were music and being held tight you were breathtaking and heartbreaking and i loved you

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EILEEN SUAREZ

marker

april 2022

Cards for Good Vibes

26

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ELLE DIXON

ink

april 2022

“Leonardo da Vinci Ink Remake”

28

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NATASHA THEUSCH charcoal

figure in space

29

EMMA GAN

photo

april 2022

blink of an eye

30

digital art

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SASSY SALEEBY

Twice’s Sana

31

SARAH PERNIK

acrylic on canvas

april 2022

Sarah’s Paintings

32

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EMMA MARGRAF

creative nonfiction

Perfection

april 2022

Our society is known for relentlessly emphasizing social standards and expectations. In fact, we thrive on it.

By purposefully rooting misleading ideas of validation and achievement into our daily lives, people in power have the ability to shape and structure our behavior. They manipulate aspects of our humanity and work to control people in a number of ways. One of them being creating a necessity for perfection. They paint failure as disgraceful, which portrays success as the only way you are to be validated by the majority of the people around you.

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The word perfection can be defined as the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. In this case, perfection is essentially flawlessness or not making mistakes. Admittedly, the extent of this definition isn’t as simple as it appears. The true meaning of perfection is often diminished

unacceptable, that mistakes are the by people who fail to understand equivalent of exposing your weakness concepts of the “self ” on a deeper level. or fragility to the world. Perfection Even so, while people’s understanding takes advantage of humanity’s desire of perfection varies, it is most for validation and exploits it to the commonly described as not wanting benefit of those dependent on the to mess up, having a strong motivation manipulation of others. Perfection to succeed, or paying great attention is a trap, uncontrollable, paralyzing, to detail. Except, it isn’t some harmless and covertly used to magnify our selfdesire to achieve success or excellence, awareness while giving power to those it’s an obsession, an almost irresistible who thrive on creating insecurity impulse, something that people strive and dichotomy within for but can’t “Perfection tells us, society. help losing themselves repeatedly, that failure is What else does this to. Perfection unacceptable, that mistakes obsession create? is a trap. It Well, it makes for the are the equivalent of manipulates perfect kid. Someone exposing your weakness or our thoughts, responsible, mature, fragility to the world.” causes us to compassionate, and obsess over determined. I mean who unrealistic expectations, and center wouldn’t want this as their offspring? our lives around idealistic concepts The answer is almost no one. But, or notions of the future. Perfection what most people fail to realize is tells us, repeatedly, that failure is that perfection always comes with its

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drawbacks. As previously mentioned, my personal belongings. If someone perfection is a constant struggle, one came in to clean my room or rearrange that often leads to immense amounts my space, it would usually result in an of anxiety. When you’re always uncontrollable tantrum or outburst. under the pressure of trying not to My mother often asked why I cared disappoint, so much about “That is one lesson I’ve learned how things were you usually lose something through dealing with the organized or in the process. laid out in my addictiveness of perfection, Whether it’s your bedroom, I mean once the obsession comes, you contentment, it wasn’t like can rarely get it to leave.” satisfaction, they couldn’t or confidence, be moved back. obsessions to this degree never take While I wasn’t able to articulate the over without consequence. reason then, what I have realized over the years is that I crave control. I get Another aspect of perfection to satisfaction and comfort from having note is that people rarely embrace things be “perfect” in my life. So, it. Generally, unless it produces being protective over my bedroom was commendable success, people only the only way I knew how to achieve want you to be average. In my case, this flawlessness. While I have, for the my passion for perfection has been most part, grown out of that behavior, discouraged since the day I was born. my perfectionism has yet to disappear.

For instance, when I was young I That is one lesson I’ve learned through became extremely possessive about

dealing with the addictiveness of perfection, once the obsession comes, you can rarely get it to leave.

While perfection is often associated with success, achievement, and excellence, perfection is, ultimately, a trap. We as a society praise perfection, but only so that certain people can benefit from it. The media constructs images of successful people who embody all that society wants them to be, responsible, unproblematic, compliant, and ultimately perfect.

These end up distorting our views on what success should be. So how do we escape this prison? Well, in order to conquer this fabricated necessity for flawlessness, we must first deconstruct how we develop our values and behaviors. We need to truly ask ourselves; Who am I really? Am I a product of society or do I carve my own path? And is my desire for perfection also my greatest weakness?

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april 2022

36

GRAY BAKER

oil pastel

self portrait

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NATASHA THEUSCH

paint

Main Street pt.1 37

EMILY YANG

poetry

The Girl with the Chestnut Hair Drifted through a sky deeper than your blue eyes Ran through woods the same color as your long chestnut hair Through summer nights warm as your smile

The way you lit up When I told you I read that book you recommended

Laughing, laughing, your tinkling chuckle Like a bell, like a bubbling, gurgling stream Lively as you

The way you laughed When I whispered dad jokes Into your ear on long car rides

I really like:

The way your gentle voice Gave me a million butterflies Melting me from head to toe

Your flickering gaze Meeting my eyes then darting away Then shyly looking back up

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Your big smile that shows the tooth That you broke when you were ten Dancing at a birthday party

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Your laugh that reminds me of Belly flops into chilly water During sunny spring afternoons I will always remember: The way you consoled me When I cried When we lost that championship game

And I will always remember The way you beamed when you told me About that offer from the school three states over And how my heart sank And sank and sank and sank As I rested my forehead against yours As I looked into your sky-blue eyes As my hands played with your long, chestnut hair As the sun streamed in through the window Warm, warm as your smile

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JIYA SINGH

paint

Bonsai 39

GRAY BAKER

ink

april 2022

creation + connection

40

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JAELYN LEVER

paint

Joker 41

april 2022

42

ANA CHILDS-KLEIN

Triangle

photo illustration

digital

emotions

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ERICA SHI

43

april 2022

ISABELLA DODSON

photo

Skating into sunshine 44

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Motion

45

april 2022

46

MAX YANG

acrylic on canvas

if birds can fly, why can’t i?

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ANA CHILDS-KLIEN

photo

wings out

47

DAPHNE GOLDEN

poetry

Jewels Above & Below They trampled past a river On soft grass and sharp sticks All to see the Big Dipper, Like little candles’ lit wicks.

They lay down in a garden WIth flowers like the jewels above.

After finally retreating from their lonely den, They were astonishingly met with pure, unknown love.

They gazed at the vast, celestial sea Speckled with its lanterns bright, And they began to glimpse in glee

april 2022

That light was hope, and hope, light.

They trampled past a river, Continuing to gaze at myriad beams.

All after seeing the Big Dipper, Their slumber was filled with wondrous dreams.

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photo

Lighting Up The Sea

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ANONYMOUS

49

ANONYMOUS

photo

april 2022

Lighting Up The Sea (cont’d)

50

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51

LEVI MILLER

poetry

Pro-Caution The following words are direct quotes of district faculty and Ladue alumni. These quotes can be found in the 2019 September issue of Panorama: Combating Danger (pages 6-7).

District Emergency!

Oversee safety initiatives, add to safety precautions, critical incident crisis safety team. Provide radios to staff members, take student safety very seriously.

Make sure our students are safe throughout the school day.

april 2022

“We want people who represent us.”

“Understand how it starts.”

“Focus on the mental health of individual students.”

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Staff training with Tier One Tactical Solutions, lock your classroom down. Barricade the doors and prepare.

An entryway which visitors must be buzzed through, the focus is on life saving techniques.

Apply a variety of tourniquets, deal with active shooters.

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“Mental health is avoided in discussions.”

“Provide solace for people who are struggling.”

“It’s hard to tell adults what they’re feeling.”

React quickly in tense situations, consider multiple plans of action. The correct response changes, race to see who could apply the tourniquet faster. Ensure the safety of students and staff. Safety is a top priority, there are active shooters all over the board.

“People feel that they can’t go to counselors.”

“Get them the support that they need.”

“It starts at the mental level.”

Hands-on demonstrations simulating a real emergency, focus on mindset when dealing with an intruder. Risk is prevalent, mental health is the precursor to school shootings. Solace for students!

Represent on the national level! Help them out!

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RONAN AGRAWAL

digital

april 2022

Love is full of sacrifice

54

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RONAN AGRAWAL

digital

owie theres oil in my eyes 55

AVINASH KAMATH

repose

Tears of Oil We deploy our troops,

Only red.

Touting guns and flags.

Red and a glistening black.

“We are here to save you,” They shout from a plane that drops hell upon their landscape.

They learned that it was not the land the assailants wanted.

She was simply getting fruits from the store

Rich, flowing, glistening black.

When her land was ravaged.

He was playing football at the local field When his home was ripped to shreds.

All while in their ears flooded “Here comes democracy, here comes freedom.”

april 2022

Words they could not even understand,

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But understood well how deceitful they were.

Soon, in the American flag they did not see white and blue.

But what was under.

Rich, flowing, glistening black.

Rich, flowing, glistening black.

The bombs rained.

The planes flew.

The guns fired.

And those that brought “freedom and democracy” Forced the children to cry tears of oil, Collecting the tears as they wept.

photo

I am earth

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EMMA MARGRAF

57

MATAN COHN

repose

Ice in the Soil, Wind in the Morning The modern day is not the same.

And an entire race was almost ended

We have changed for the worse

Because one man skyrocketed to fame

And Dr. King would be ashamed.

and decided the people he hated

Don’t stomp on the graves but empower the names,

were the ones to blame.

and honor the bodies unlawfully slain.

We live in a state of peril and strain,

The world is not the same.

Of mockery and pain,

But it’s never too late for a change.

These lives weren’t taken with love

We have done what we could,

But rather the bullets from officers untrained.

And progress was made.

april 2022

If we hope for the best

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My people are not the same.

And take action each day,

After wandering for years for disrespecting his name.

A better future lies ahead

After being enslaved and unleashing the plagues.

For the eyes still awake.

After generations were killed

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KAMRYN SAMPLE

photo

Sorrowful Boy 59

PHOEBE CHEN

watercolor

april 2022

Reflection

60

paint

Cercis canadensis

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KIAN HOWE

61

MICAELA CHYU

digital

april 2022

capacity

62

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Time

63

NYLA ROBINSON

poetry

I, death Whispering over vibrant souls so vulnerable and eager to age and then yearning to go back.

Wielding my scythe as I haulm over souls so hound and paranoid about possible tragedies concerning the future and dwelling on the past, souls so connected with other worlds and utopias, they recklessly deteriorate and collapse into a cycling rotation of agony.

Shadowing, over souls almost in commiseration with my Eon old cloak, as they linger in sorrow begging for mercy and redemption. I’m trailing the backs of souls who scrounge for everything they don’t have, but are blind for it is right in front of them.

april 2022

Watching in dismay as the oblivious souls thrash around in gluttony and loathing hatred.

Timidly scraping my ancient bone finger along the series of marble graves as I mourn the lost souls who so humbly sacrifice their humanity just to watch it go to waste.

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I patiently linger above pure and golden souls as they slowly morph into a miserable heartless being. I observe all these tragedies and wonder how they fear me, for the human race is the most gruesome and unbearable catastrophe I’ve ever witnessed.

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MAX YANG

charcoal

graveyard of dreams 65

april 2022

MAX YANG

paint

Looking Back 66

pencil

Grandpa

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TAI MOORE

67

EMMA MARGRAF

photo illustration

april 2022

I Am Still Alive

68

pencil

Skull Anatomy

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ELLE DIXON

69

THEO MILLER

photo

april 2022

Mossy Rock

70

creative nonfiction

Eight Thousand Miles Connected My blood flows from the rich oceans and coasts of India, from my ancestral home of the coastal state Goa. There, the people pray to Ram and Krishna alongside Jesus and Muhammad, they dine on rich fish swimming in spices, and they utilize the coconut from its flesh, to its milk, to its skin. I get my skin color, my eyes, my face, and my hair from that land. The land that, despite being so many thousands of miles away, lives within my soul. I step into its kitchens and buy from its markets everytime I cook a traditional dish with flavorful ingredients alongside my mother. All of its temples exist inside my home everytime I pray to the altar my family has set up in the living room. I understand the beliefs of my people in stories and texts I read and hear from there, the Ramayan, the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharat.

Whenever my mother speaks Konkani, her native tongue, I hear the conversations of those that still inhabit Goa. Every celebration I attend with the ethnically Konkani community in St. Louis, from Ganesh Pooja, to Diwali, to a simple party, gives me a way to celebrate with those I have never met, across the ocean in the land of my ancestors. The utterance of my name, Avinash Kamath, allows

me to hear the voice of my people even when they do not say it. Though I cannot physically be there, my heart still pumps the blood it gave me and connects me to the place my family left behind to forge a better future for me, here in America.

As much as I love and cherish the land that has given me so much culture and meaning in life, I was still born in the United States, a country that has given me equally as much as the one my mother was born in. The other part of me exists here. Of course, it’s still the same me, but instead of cherishing my traditions, this half blazes the path forward for my new life. America gave me the means to become unique and talented in my own regard. Here, so many perspectives, races, cultures, religions, and beliefs collide into one messy but beautiful source of knowledge. With this invaluable resource, I have found interests that have sprouted into passions. I love to research for days on end and argue about important topics at debate tournaments. Stepping onto the field to play some ultimate frisbee brings out the free flying spirit within me. Words turn into emotions as I pour myself onto the paper with every poem I write. My ears perk up at the sound of Spanish,

ready to see if I can identify the words. Beyond just my passions, this land has provided me with a purpose in advocacy. With so much diversity comes a dangerous amount of intolerance, ignorance, and neglect. As an Indian-American, I suffer under the overwhelming weight of these evils. Instead of letting it crush me, I have turned it into a way to amplify my voice. I use these struggles to relate with the experiences and strife of those of which I do not share roots with. Our differences ignite me to learn more about others and fight for them in order to create a better future for those that will follow me. I let the fire that blazes the path towards progress guide me. I take part in political campaigns, environmental groups, and other advocacy groups to produce a positive change wherever I can. All of this was possible because I grew up in America.

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AVINASH KAMATH

These two sides live in me. Though they are not perfectly balanced, they both give me direction in life. The blood that runs through me from the coasts of Goa has collided with the ground of which I built my life off of to create the best version of me.

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april 2022

72

AVA HAGEN

ink

Alarm Clock

mixed media

Baba Yaga

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AVA HAGEN

73

ANNIE LI

mixed media

april 2022

Creativity

74

poetry

to little me, please treasure that smile those innocent, careless moments of joy hold them tight

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SYLVIA HANES

remember the moments that make you laugh, and the ones that make you cry hang onto the people that make you happy the ones that make you feel fearless and free someday there may come a point when that smile is not so easy to find, that laughter is much more difficult to coax out of you, and that thoughtless joy is rare and never comes without a cost but keep clinging to that smile, and those memories, and those people, and you will make it through i promise.

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KELLY ZHANG

watercolor

Daydream

april 2022

Colophon

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The theme of perspectives was chosen to reflect the many vantage points through which we view ourselves, each other and our communities, particularly as adolescents in a rapidly-changing world. There are four sections that each highlight a crucial aspect of perspective: location, perception, motion and time. Theme elements, respectively, include camera-lens viewfinders focusing on an image; shapes pulled from each piece; lines mimicking motion of the piece; and threads.

This magazine was created using Adobe 2020 Creative Suite applications. The fonts used were Hugolers Regular, EB Garamond Regular, EB Garamond Italics and Gill Sans Regular. 80# Endurance Gloss Book White paper is used to print this free magazine. This magazine is primarily available online via Issuu but 250 paper copies are printed as well. Melodrama is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and Journalism Educators Association. Spreads designed by Rhea Patney, Oviya Srihari, Olivia Hu, Lucy Lochmoeller, Joanne Sung, Mika Kipnis, Marissa Mathieson, Abbey Carrico, Olivia Chen, Riley Coates, Mac Huffman, Ryan Tung, Allen You, Annie Zhao and Mimi Zhao. Spread design credits were not included on individual spreads because the Melodrama staff views themselves as the organizers and compilers of the literary magazine, not the creators. The staff would like the focus of every spread to be on submitters, not on who designed the spread.

MARISSA MATHIESON

adviser SARAH KIRKSEY

editors in chief OLIVIA HU RHEA PATNEY OVIYA SRIHARI

design editors LUCY LOCHMOELLER JOANNE SUNG

design staff

writing staff

ABBEY CARRICO

OLIVIA CHEN

MAC HUFFMAN

RILEY COATES

MIKA KIPNIS

ELLA SCHEFFEL

ANNIE ZHAO

RYAN TUNG

melodrama | vol. 3

writing editor

MIMI ZHOU

art editor

photo editor GINGER SCHULTE

DANIELLE ZHANG

photo staff

art staff

SYDNEY COLLINGER

SOPHIA DUPRE-DOSANJH

JACK REEVES

HAFATEH SINGH

ALLEN YOU

Staff List 77

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