President. Chancellor. The leader of The YUNiversity. He is fiercely loyal to UC Berkeley, his alma mater, where he graduated with honors in English. A polymath of sorts, he has experience in writing, editing, journalism, curriculum development, teaching, marketing, and college admissions consulting.
His happiest day on the Internet was when one of his real-life heroes, Gerard Way, produced an original drawing for The YUNiversity pro bono (because Gee is one of the nicest people on Earth).
Provost. Henry’s bae and lead researcher and fact checker. During college, she studied law abroad at the University of Sussex in Brighton. (ICYWW, that’s in England.) She is the inspiration behind 97.42% of the examples that involve the mysterious and (generally) lovable “Jo” on Twitter.
She was extremely happy when DrunkenTigerJK began to follow @The_YUNiversity on Twitter.
If you have ideas for promotions, requests, or would like your favorite K-pop idol or bias featured in our tweets, posts, or articles, give her a holler straight away: nan@TheYUNiversity.net.
He loves anime. And video games. And playing bass guitar.
Have a suggestion for the site or a feature you want to see added? Hit him up: peter@TheYUNiversity.net.
Mascot. A YUNicorn in shorkie form (part black Shih-Tzu, part Yorkshire Terrier). He becomes particularly annoyed at the sight of dangling modifiers, ambiguous pronouns, and sentences that do not employ the Oxford comma.
He prefers the abbreviated moniker Chewie and has a one-way bromance with Key’s dog Commes Des.
Writing intern. Santa Clarita Valley International, ’16. Nessa spends most of her time binge watching, thinking about studying, and trying to write. She is taking eleven classes in an attempt to graduate early, so she can move on to become a writer/director.
A fiercely loyal Gryffindor, you’ll probably hear her talk about her friends a little too much.
Writing intern. Mihail Sadoveanu National College, Iasi, Romania, ’17. Smaranda prefers to be referred to as Rissa because there are no words for how much Smaranda despises the former.
Rissa likes bees, theater, outer space, tiny animals, and the debatable excitement of living in a constant existential crisis. Rissa is also a fan of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows and writes both prose and poetry. Rissa is secretly a space fairy with magical hair.
Art Intern. Bayview Secondary School, ’16. Jessica (or Jess for short) is a dubious five feet tall. She has a big thing for cute cartoon shows. She doodles on everything and loves a bad pun. Sometimes, she writes stories.
Jess is very down with the trend of featuring more diverse characters in the media. Currently, she is working towards earning her IB diploma. Alas, she is not very good at math.
Writing intern. Born and raised in the little red (tropical) dot known as Singapore, Pamela has always been drawn to the beauty of the sky. From watching sunrises and sunsets, and the fluffy white clouds against the clear blue sky, to the dark contrast of a night sky full of stars. Pamela loves them all. Her favourite sky colours are deep blue, lilac, and one with both a tinge of pink and orange. She finds them simply alluring.
Contrary to the climate she lives in, Pamela loves winter. She loves the snow and all things cold. So do not be surprised if you find a shivering Pamela drinking an iced-cold drink on a chilly day (or in a place with very strong air-condition).
Venturesome is the word she has decided to live by since 2016. She wants to be bold and courageous in whatever she does. Thus, a venturesome explorer Pamela aspires to be! She desires to travel around the world and experience different cultures, meet new people and gain new insights. Aside from learning from another's perspective, she would also like to share hers (if you would like her to).
Writing Intern. Bayview Secondary School IB, ’18. Enshia currently resides in Canada, but she has scattered bits and pieces of her childhood across three countries, seven homes, and eight different schools. In her free time, she enjoys listening to classical music, playing the piano, filmmaking with friends, reading, the occasional long walk, and taking a stab at her own literary endeavours.
Enshia is young and would like to see more of the world. She believes that people are intrinsically good, and that everyone has valuable stories to tell. It may be impossible to know another person fully, but those rare moments of connection are beautiful and worthwhile.
Never be afraid to start a conversation with Enshia; she probably wants to talk to you more than you do to her!
Writing Intern. Faith Baptist High School, ’18.
Madison is a proud American with conservative political views who enjoys frequently participating in informed, rational debates. In her free time, she either reads books about history, politics, economics, and philosophy or plays basketball for her high school. Madison plans to double-major in economics and political science and pursue a career in law.
Writing Intern. Calabassas High School, ’18. Jonah exhibits his philosophy of giving back to the community by volunteering at hospitals, fundraisers, and other service events. Besides community service, Jonah is often studying, working with his school clubs, or continuing his 12-year passion for music through the drums, guitar, piano, and other instruments. In his free time, he is hanging out with his family and friends, voraciously reading, or working out. Jonah is often described as outgoing and has a way with words that allows him to reason with others when they are in tough situations; one of his strengths is being the voice of reason and displaying leadership in group settings. Jonah aspires to attend Stanford University and become a reconstructive surgeon.
Art Intern. Grover Cleveland Charter High School, ’18. Christine’s artistic inspiration comes from the works Victo Ngai. She has been competing in art competitions since she was eight, ranking in school, regional, state, and international levels. Outside of the art spectrum, she debates about nuclear policy, social justice, and philosophy as part of her school’s debate team; gives speeches on current events, as part of competing in International Extempt on her school’s speech team; and gives speeches on international issues as part of her MUN team. In other words, aside from drawing, Christine just really likes talking. She also apologizes for a bio that is not as captivating as the rest, but her forte’s art, not writing.
Writing intern. Bayview Secondary School, ’18. There is an overwhelming amount of stuff that whirls around in Kate’s mind every day. This doesn’t mean that she somehow thinks more profoundly than the average person, but that she needs an outlet. Kate is prone to sudden surges of extreme passion for racial and gender equality, music, mental health, indie films, and dogs. Writing lets her express them.
She admires people like Christina Grimmie, Lilly Singh, and Casey Neistat, who use their artistry and influence to spread love and advocate for positive change in the world. Kate hopes to do the same in her own way. As for now, she can often be found lurking on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.
Writing Intern. Frisco Centennial High School, ’19. Shloka is an aspiring attorney who attempts to immerse herself in the law as much as possible, whether it be through competitive debate, mock trial, or academics. She takes particular interest to the legal implications of artificial intelligence, the technology of tomorrow that will undoubtedly shake societal, economic, and political norms. Additionally, she regularly keeps up with the development of trending court cases and interesting lawsuits.
Having lived in two states before moving to her current home in Texas, Shloka has come to enjoy traveling whenever the opportunity presents itself. She keeps record of her life’s memories through the most unconventional methods, including collecting fortune cookie slips and tea cans. When she's not busy, she enjoys playing piano, discovering new music, and attempting to finish her “To Read” list.
Writing intern. Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia ’17. Nandha is Indonesian with pure Javanese blood running through her body. She is currently a first-year college student, majoring in English literature. Writing and reading are her side hobbies, because fangirling over Korean boys is still her main activity.
Nandha is quite a pessimist but still smiles the brightest every day. She believes that writing is the only way you can show the world what you think—without feeling guilty about it.
She likes talking to new people, so hit her up if you want to talk about her hobbies (especially about K-pop!).
Writing intern. Stone Bridge High School, ’18. In her free time, Tara listens to music, reads, hikes, and stares at words until they start to look weird. Tara enjoys giving back to her school by tutoring students in Spanish and in her school’s writing center.
Writing intern. Bella’s real name is Baylasan, which is Arabic for a type of flower, but she prefers to go by Bella (or Sanbella) because she’s simply tired of people’s maladroit skills at pronunciation. Bella’s brain is a busy street with too much traffic in it, so she often relishes in unleashing it all on paper—in the form of poetry, stories or articles. She is also an idiosyncratic soul, who loves writing backwards and memorizing the birthdays of just about everyone in the world. Bella has an undying love for God, then language, art, people, and words. She also loves a deep conversation, and a friend with whom she can read poetry back and forth—to help her get an insight into their souls.
Bella is a proud Palestinian and is an ardent supporter for gender, racial and social equality. She hopes to someday become a better Muslim, a linguist, a novelist, a poet, and a polyglot.
Writing intern. Sarah is one of those people you should never speak to until she's had her morning coffee, or better yet, her afternoon one. Her friends tolerate her because she makes them laugh. As expected of a redhead, she is hot-tempered, fiery, and passionate. Music is one of her passions; she is a self-taught guitarist and ukuleleist (she ascertained that to be the term). She also enjoys reading, photography, and drama. She believes she would enjoy travel, but so far she has rarely ventured outside her home. She’s in the pro-Oxford comma camp.
Writing Intern. Rahimie Ramli is a Malaysian who’s currently studying English Language and Literature and Islamic Studies at International Islamic University Malaysia. During his free time, he likes to watch movies, read books, go for a morning or evening jog and make videos for his YouTube channel. After watching a movie, he likes to discuss the content with a few friends and just be enlightened by new knowledge they discover. His friends would describe him as someone who is zealous, quirky, goofy, shy (sometimes), outgoing, brave, audacious, too loud and very tall for a Malay. He enjoys the purple-red gradient sky in the evening. He plans to be a writer or a scholar one day, hoping to make the world a better place for us to live in. If anyone has time, do check out his YouTube channel. Peace be upon you.
Writing intern. Presentation High School ’19. Valerie is a Chinese American student living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She enjoys boba milk tea, talking about racial justice, and writing about Asian American communities and the people that define them. Outside of school, she's usually correcting someone’s grammar or watching TEDx talks.
Her work has received a National Gold Medal in the 2017 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and was shortlisted for the 2017 Alice Sullivan Prize in Fiction. She has previously been published in The Huffington Post, We Are Three Dimensional, and Project GirlSpire, and was featured “Millennial in Action” by E Pluribus, a political organization for advocacy. In the future, she hopes to work in the Foreign Service. Her motto is #staywoke.
Writing Intern. University of Toronto Schools (UTS), ’18. For as long as she can remember, Katherine has struggled with the concept of onism — the frustration that she will only be able to live one life, in one body. The idea that she will have a finite set of life experiences, dictated by the circumstances in which she was born, strikes her as profoundly unjust.
Reading and writing are the tools Katherine uses to rebel against the singularity of life. They let her taste — if just for a moment — the rich, vivid, and complex lives of other human beings (real or fictional). For this reason, you will often find Katherine reading a novel (she loves all genres of fiction), writing prose, or listening to spoken word poetry!
Do not hesitate to reach out to Katherine; she would love to know your story. And maybe, if she is so inclined, she will tell you hers.
Writing intern. Van Nuys Medical Magnet, ’18. Diana is a teenager who is passionate about all things science, especially biology and medicine. A lifelong learner, video game enthusiast, avid reader, nature lover, and long-distance runner, Diana wants to help the world become a better place by helping the people who shape it. She dreams of one day traveling the world and seeing everything it has to offer.
Photography intern. West Ranch High School, ’19. Hope loves traveling, playing lacrosse, listening to all kinds of music, and eating good food. At school, she is involved in ASB and plays on the lacrosse team. Always seeking new things, Hope loves to explore places around her own city of Los Angeles and all around the world. She spends her time taking pictures, eating, and visiting art museums and other interesting sites. Hope hopes to be able to travel more of the world and experience different cultures in the future.
Writing Intern. Quartz Hill High School ’18. Moving from Canada her sophomore year, Seerat is a proud foreigner in the Golden State. She enjoys pondering and debating contemporary ethical dilemmas and reading about alternate realms that offer inspiration as well as hope for her own world. Travelling and foreign languages intrigue her, and she hopes to travel more often and increase her knowledge beyond the four languages she currently can speak.
Co-captain of the mock trial team, a student leader, and an IB student, Seerat exemplifies the pseudo extrovert, who retreats into her room after a long day of socialization for some much needed solitude and its catalyzing properties.
To be fair, all of our former interns are honorable. They wouldn’t have been selected in the first place if they weren’t. This section is for former interns who have made significant contributions to our Medium publication, and without whom it wouldn’t be what it is today.