About
River An
Peddie School 27’
CREATIVE WRITING
& PUBLICATIONS
& PUBLICATIONS
Amphion Literary and Art Magazine — Editor-in-Chief, 2026–Present
Editorial leadership for Peddie’s century-old student-run literary and art magazine; curates 100+ annual submissions and mentors student contributors.
Creative Writing Signature Program — Selected Participant, 2025–2027
Two-year program in poetry, fiction, and graphic narrative; lead visual artist for a collaborative graphic narrative project.
Iowa Young Writers’ Studio — Selected Participant, Summer 2025
Two-week residential creative writing program in fiction and poetry.
Think of the Sea — Korean–English Screenplay Translator
Translated a short-film screenplay for international film festival submissions.
RESEARCH & LAW
Juvenile Miranda Rights Study — Independent Researcher, 2025–Present
Designed an IRB-approved study of 307 adolescents examining comprehension of Miranda warnings; authored a 20-page research paper and is developing a documentary based on the research.
New Jersey Student Ethics Conference — Presenter, 2025
Presented “Why Do Miranda Rights Fail to Protect Young People?” on false confessions, language barriers, and legal reform.
Columbia High School Law Institute — Participant, 2025–2026
Studied criminal procedure and constitutional law through Columbia Law School’s high school program.
LEADERSHIP & COMMUNITY
Student DEI Leadership Council — Co-Leader, 2025–Present
Organizes student programming and dialogue; designed and led a DEI Day workshop connecting the Heart Sutra and Five Skandhas with contemporary inclusion.
Arts Citizenship Committee — Elected Representative, 2024–Present
Represents theatre students in school arts planning and student-faculty dialogue.
Hartley’s Legacy — Co-President, 2025–Present
Organizes student performers for twice-monthly performances at Princeton CIEL Senior Center; launched an oral-history project documenting residents’ songs and life stories.
VISUAL ART
Independent Studio Art Portfolio — 2024–Present
Developing a 12–15 piece portfolio exploring storytelling and memory through digital and traditional media.
ULTRAVIOLET at BRIC House Gallery — Selected Artist, 2026
Selected for a juried youth contemporary art exhibition in Brooklyn.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Gold Key — Poetry; Silver Key — Mixed Media; Honorable Mentions in visual art and writing.
PERFORMING ARTS
Musical Theatre — Peddie School, 2023–Present
Gloria Thorpe, Damn Yankees; Fiona, Shrek the Musical; ensemble in The Prom and Mamma Mia!; Assistant Stage Manager and onstage band singer in Romeo and Juliet.
Vocal Performance — Peddie School, 2023–Present
Lead Vocalist, Blair Day Band; soprano soloist for chapel services, alumni memorials, and school ceremonies; member of Peddie Singers and Treblemakers.
Private Voice & Acting Training
Voice study with David Gordon, Manhattan School of Music; acting and vocal coaching with Broadway performers Marina Kondo and Michelle Beck; New York Film Academy musical theatre intensive.
ATHLETICS
Varsity Girls Golf — Peddie School, Grades 9–10
Two-year varsity team member; 2025 Mid-Atlantic Prep League team champion.
HONORS & RECOGNITION
National Merit Commended Scholar, 2026
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards — Gold Key(Poetry, 2026), Silver Key & Honorable Mentions (Mixed Medea, Painting, 2024-2025)
CS Music Vocal Competition — National Live Second Round, Musical Theatre & Classical Voice, 2026
Peddie Declamation Contest — 2nd Place, 2026; Honorable Mention, 2024 & 2025
I approach each character not as someone to imitate, but as someone to understand. I study the rhythm of their language, their silences, their contradictions. I believe acting isn’t about becoming someone else—it’s about expanding into parts of yourself you’ve never had permission to access.
I train for precision, but I perform for truth.
On stage, I listen as much as I speak. My goal is not to impress but to connect—quietly, honestly, and with intention.
I study each piece—its phrasing, breath, and structure—before I perform it. I care about tone, articulation, and control, but also about how the music lives and breathes in the moment. My voice isn’t just a tool for expression; it’s a way of listening, shaping, and connecting.
On stage, I aim for clarity, not perfection. I want each sound to mean something—to carry both discipline and feeling. Singing allows me to reveal what can’t always be said, with honesty and precision.
I work across mediums—drawing, painting, digital composition—but what stays constant is my interest in memory, emotion, and the spaces in between. I’m drawn to textures, rhythms, and quiet tension. My creative process often begins with discomfort, but it’s through that uncertainty that form begins to emerge.
Art is how I make sense of what I can’t explain directly.
I don’t aim for perfection; I aim for presence.
Each piece is a way of listening—visually, emotionally, and structurally.
I’m drawn to the parts of experience that resist simple language—grief, silence, contradiction. Writing helps me stay with those things without needing to solve them. I care about voice, rhythm, and the weight of each word. I write slowly, listening as I go.
I don’t see writing as a way to declare what I know, but as a space to find out what I feel. My goal isn’t clarity for its own sake—it’s resonance. I want the reader to pause, not just understand.
For me, writing isn’t about closure. It’s about staying open.
© RIVER AN 2025
Many forms.
One way of looking closely.
As an actress, I learn to inhabit different lives and communicate truths beyond words.
Acting makes me feel most human and most present. The vulnerability necessary to take part in performance is exactly what teaches me most about courage, honesty, and human connection.
Theater allows me to channel my empathy and creativity while exploring emotions I might otherwise suppress. It challenges my perfectionism and teaches me to prioritize my emotional presence and genuine joy on stage with both cast and audience.
Acting makes me feel most human and most present. The vulnerability necessary to take part in performance is exactly what teaches me most about courage, honesty, and human connection.
Theater allows me to channel my empathy and creativity while exploring emotions I might otherwise suppress. It challenges my perfectionism and teaches me to prioritize my emotional presence and genuine joy on stage with both cast and audience.
© RIVER AN 2025
slowgirl by Greg pierce
2026
The 158th Declamation Speaking Contest
2nd Place
“Murder, He Says” (1943) - Young Arts 2026 Submission
Damn Yankees,
Peddie Musical, 2025
Gloria Thorpe
As a sophomore, I was cast as Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees, a lead role typically given to upperclassmen in Peddie’s Winter Musical. It was a bold, fast-paced part with sharp wit and vocal firepower—and one I embraced fully. My teachers saw something in me and trusted me with that energy, and on stage, I returned it with everything I had. Gloria let me be unapologetically loud, clever, and commanding. I wasn’t just playing a character—I was inhabiting a kind of power I didn’t always show offstage. That role didn’t just grow me as a performer; it affirmed how performance can reveal dimensions of the self that others already believe in.
Peddie
157th Declamation Contest, 2025
Caryl Churchill
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire
New York Film Academy, Intensive Summer Camp, 2025
The Prom, Peddie Musical, 2024
Shrek, Peddie Freshmen Musical, 2024
© RIVER AN 2025
Slow Girl by Greg Pierce, 2012 - Young Arts 2026 Musical Theater Submission
157th Declamation Contest, Peddie, 2025
Caryl Churchill
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire
156th Declamation Contest, Peddie, 2024
© RIVER AN 2025
Damn Yankees,
Peddie Musical, 2025
Gloria Thorpe
As a sophomore, I was cast as Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees, a lead role typically given to upperclassmen in Peddie’s Winter Musical. It was a bold, fast-paced part with sharp wit and vocal firepower—and one I embraced fully. My teachers saw something in me and trusted me with that energy, and on stage, I returned it with everything I had. Gloria let me be unapologetically loud, clever, and commanding. I wasn’t just playing a character—I was inhabiting a kind of power I didn’t always show offstage. That role didn’t just grow me as a performer; it affirmed how performance can reveal dimensions of the self that others already believe in.
The Prom, Peddie Musical, 2024
Shrek, Peddie Freshmen Musical, 2024
School Performance | Outside of School
Please view in full screen and
turn on the volume!
turn on the volume!
Blair Day Chapel, 2025 - main singer
On stage, I aim for clarity, not perfection. I want each sound to mean something—to carry both discipline and feeling. Singing allows me to reveal what can’t always be said, with honesty and precision.
Blair Day Chapel, 2024 - main singer
Every year, Peddie produces a music video to welcome new students and share the spirit of the school. In 2024, I was selected as one of the lead vocalists for our cover of “Defying Gravity.”
Working with fellow student musicians and a professional production team, I helped bring the story to life through song. The final video became part of Peddie’s official admissions campaign—an honor that let me represent my school with both voice and heart.
Peddie Concert, 2024
Peddie Vaspers, Dec. 2025 - Peddie Singers
More Video
© RIVER AN 2025
School Performance | Outside of School
“Before It’s Over” (2012) - Young Arts 2026 Submission
NY Jazz Academy - summer intensive @Smash Studio, 2025
Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Duke Ellington)
Centerpiece (Harry Edison & Jon Hendricks)
© RIVER AN 2025
School Performance | Outside of School
Please view in full screen and
turn on the volume!
turn on the volume!
Blair Day Chapel, 2025 - main singer
On stage, I aim for clarity, not perfection. I want each sound to mean something—to carry both discipline and feeling. Singing allows me to reveal what can’t always be said, with honesty and precision.
Blair Day Chapel, 2024 - main singer
Every year, Peddie produces a music video to welcome new students and share the spirit of the school. In 2024, I was selected as one of the lead vocalists for our cover of “Defying Gravity.”
Working with fellow student musicians and a professional production team, I helped bring the story to life through song. The final video became part of Peddie’s official admissions campaign—an honor that let me represent my school with both voice and heart.
Peddie Concert, 2024
Peddie Vaspers, Dec. 2025 - Peddie Singers
More Video
© RIVER AN 2025
School Performance | Outside of School
Please view in full screen and
turn on the volume!
turn on the volume!
Blair Day Chapel, 2025 - main singer
On stage, I aim for clarity, not perfection. I want each sound to mean something—to carry both discipline and feeling. Singing allows me to reveal what can’t always be said, with honesty and precision.
Blair Day Chapel, 2024 - main singer
Every year, Peddie produces a music video to welcome new students and share the spirit of the school. In 2024, I was selected as one of the lead vocalists for our cover of “Defying Gravity.”
Working with fellow student musicians and a professional production team, I helped bring the story to life through song. The final video became part of Peddie’s official admissions campaign—an honor that let me represent my school with both voice and heart.
Peddie Concert, 2024
Peddie Vaspers, Dec. 2025 - Peddie Singers
More Video
© RIVER AN 2025
Hartley’s Legacy at Ciel of Princeton Senior Center
2025 Spring - Present
I initially began volunteering at the Princeton Senior Center by singing for seniors during regular visits. Over time, I noticed that certain songs consistently opened deeper conversations—prompting memories, stories, and emotional reflections tied to specific moments in their lives.
As a member of Hartley’s Legacy, I began to approach this work more intentionally. Rather than focusing on performance alone, I started collecting the songs that held the greatest meaning for each individual and using music as a starting point for dialogue. Through shared listening, conversation, and singing, these sessions became collaborative exchanges grounded in memory, storytelling, and mutual learning.
Building on this experience, I am currently developing this work into a sustained intergenerational community service project. As a DEI leader at Peddie School, I am preparing to formally connect this initiative with the school’s DEI efforts, shaping it into a long-term service project centered on inclusion, identity, and intergenerational connection.
- Began participating through vocal performances at the Princeton Senior Center and expanded the work as a member of Hartley’s Legacy, focusing on music as a tool for connection rather than presentation.
- Collects seniors’ most meaningful songs and life stories through structured conversations, shared listening, and collaborative singing.
- Currently developing this work into a sustained intergenerational community service project in coordination with Peddie School’s DEI initiatives.
© RIVER AN 2025
2025 New York Film Academy, Acting for Film
- Acting for Film
In Summer 2025, I completed New York Film Academy’s intensive three-week Teen Acting for Film Summer Camp in New York City, training each day at the Battery Park campus under working actors and directors. The fast-paced curriculum immersed me in scene and monologue work, voice and movement, improvisation, and on-camera audition technique, while also casting me in the 3-Week Filmmaking students’ short silent films—giving me practical set experience and strengthening my collaborative storytelling skills. The program culminated in a professionally shot and edited monologue and two-hander scene, providing me with a polished digital reel that showcases my growth in nuanced screen performance, articulation, and creative confidence.
© RIVER AN 2025
Poetry | Fiction | Essays | Research
2026 Scholastic Art & Writing
Gold Key
Gold Key
All of the Above
- to cook rice,
- to count the amount of days in a month,
- to fracture someone’s bones,
you had yet to learn neither their Eastern magic nor how
- rice absorbed water one-to-one regardless of the average adult-sized first phalanx.
- calendars could be Julian or Gregorian, very un-Eastern, and that it worked even if February is a little special.
- you should never punch with your thumb tucked in.
You were supposed to be a big girl, but you couldn’t help but cry, because
- all three times the rice came out wrong, so you tried to destroy the evidence, but the wrinkled flesh of your index finger pointed right back at you,
- you had to count your index finger twice to account for both July and August. There were too many months, too many months until you could mother yourself,
- your hand throbbed, long before Philosophy 101 would teach you how to put a name to your pain, and your pride must have stung more than your palm.
Maybe your tears blurred your vision, or your memory fails you, but you think their eyes
- went to you before the crime scene beneath your mother’s feet, and neither of you knew where you went wrong, but she pardoned you anyway, humoring your self-incrimination. She never stopped pardoning herself, which is to say she never stopped turning herself in, and you wonder who she surrendered to without a mother of her own.
- crinkled as your mother peeled your fists open and smiled a little smugly like she understood time as an equation instead of a device of fate, like she folded laundry and caught up to her second-favorite soap drama before she changed your life every day and week and month and knuckle at a time.
- softened when you ran to your father’s side, and he held you very close like brass knuckles tight against your fingers, like a ribcage heavy on your heart,
but you rub your hands together on a brittle winter day and remember
- the warmth of your mother’s palm.
- the press of her thumb counting the months for you.
Director's Cut
In some photo I am a hundred days old.
Stuck between stacked rice cakes and a gold ring,
there I am. 백일잔치, they call it, my first debut,
already performing for the camera
though no one asked if I wanted the part.
I’m sure the camera flashed, but in that white
blindness, I should have stayed
in the delivery room
or my country
or my mother's hold.
But I will spend every debut,
every staged smile,
chasing the sun
which is to say the camera
which is to say the audience
to look my way just once.
But what does an audience want from a body
that flies too close to it?
I wish I were Icarus
because his dogma is more American than I
will ever be
but he wished too, before he fell,
and pipe dreamers pay more than they dream
but maybe I can keep running
and just maybe, tripping over steaming asphalt
I'll get closer to the sun
inside, burning my gut.
Pebbles
When I was young, sometimes,
I would pick up pretty pebbles at the beach.
I don't remember who I was with,
but the feeling remains here, still,
making my hands ache.
The sunlight lay low across the horizon,
and my small fern-like hands,
wet with seawater,
were cold and hot at once.
The pebbles were small and round,
no edges, so they didn't hurt
even when I squeezed them tight.
That's why, I think, I held that stone
for quite some time, turning it over
and over in my palm.
My hand remembers.
As if my heart had nested in my palm.
It remembers what it held,
what temperatures it passed through.
Maybe those pebbles still exist
Somewhere,
slowly worn smooth by currents and sunlight.
I send my regards
to all those places I left behind,
to all the pockets that once held my hands,
to the small, round, warm pebbles:
Hello? How are you… or so.
Things That Come
비가 온다.
In Korean, rain comes.
Rain is a visitor,
knocking at your door.
In English, it rains.
Rain is an event
that happens.
I am the one watching,
standing apart
from what falls.
잠이 온다.
In Korean, sleep comes.
Sleep arrives like a guest
I've been waiting for.
I never fall.
I am found.
In English, I fall asleep.
I am the one falling,
gravity pulling me down
into unconsciousness.
슬픔이, 기쁨이, 불안이 온다.
Sadness, joy, anxiety come.
In Korean, feelings accompany me.
They visit and leave
and I am the receptacle
they pass through.
In English, I possess my feelings.
I have anxiety.
I have joy.
I have grief.
화가 난다.
In Korean, anger happens to me.
I am not the source.
I am the receptacle
where anger occurs.
In English, I am angry.
I am the subject.
Anger is a thing I contain.
마음이 생기다.
In Korean, my heart-mind arises.
생각이 나다.
A thought appears.
I don't possess them.
They come to me
like rain,
like sleep,
like spring after a long winter.
In English, I make decisions.
I am in control.
I choose, I want, I will.
My therapist asks:
What are you feeling?
In English, I say:
I am anxious.
In Korean, I would say:
불안이 나를 찾아 온다.
Anxiety comes
and finds me,
not when I summon it,
but when my body remembers
what my mind forgot.
It will leave
when it's ready.
And somewhere between 온다 and "comes,"
between possessing and being possessed,
I exist:
untranslatable,
bilingual,
made and unmade
by the languages
making me happen.
© RIVER AN 2025