About
River An



Peddie School 27’


As a singer, actress, writer, and visual artist, 
Musical Theatre
Vocal Performance  
- Performer

SEPTEMBER 2023 – PRESENT

  • Lead roles: Fiona (Shrek) and Gloria Thorpe (Damn Yankees) in school production

  • Chapel and memorial soloist; core member of Peddie Singers (10th, 11th) and Treblemakers (9th) with repertoire in jazz and musical theatre.

  • Lead vocalist for Blair Day band (2024, 2025), performing before the full school community.

  • Upcoming (Feb 2026): Ensemble member in Peddie’s winter musical Mamma Mia, expanding musical theatre experience.
Peddie Student DEI 
Leadership Council 
- SDEI Leader

MAY 2025 – MAY 2027

  • Liaison between DEI office and students; collaborate with affinity groups; lead community workshops.

  • Focus: moving from awareness to respectful dialogue; amplifying underheard voices.

  • Core skill: listening and facilitating to reach compassionate solutions; carrying this work into college leadership and academics.

Visual Storytelling 
Amphion 
Literary Art Magazine 
- Artist and Editor

SEPTEMBER 2023 – PRESENT

  • Independent study in visual art; Scholastic submissions recognized (Silver Key).

  • Amphion 2024 cover artist, layout editor; curating work and mentor contributors.

  • Plan to lead Amphion and apply visual/narrative strategies to independent work and critique in college.

Peddie Arts Citizenship Committee
– Theater Representative

 2024 – Present
  • Represent the theatre community in school-wide arts planning, advocating for student perspectives in arts programming.

  • Connect theatre with civic dialogue by framing performance as a space for empathy, identity, and social responsibility.

  • Collaborate with faculty and student leaders to promote inclusive, accessible, and community-centered arts initiatives.
Peddie Creative Writing 
Signature Program 
- Participant

SEPTEMBER 2025 – MAY 2027

  • Selected for a two-year, discussion-driven signature program focused on sustained study of literary works across historical periods and the production of original creative writing.

  • Create and revise original poetry, genre fiction, and graphic narrative through regular workshop critique with peers and faculty..

  • Junior-summer in-person program (2026); final portfolio and public capstone reading.

Law & Psychology Research on Juvenile Vulnerability 
– Researcher

JULY 2025 – NOVEMBER 2025

  • Completed a 20-page interdisciplinary research paper under the mentorship of a clinical psychologist on juvenile linguistic vulnerability in the justice system.

  • Analyzed how language limitations, trauma, and development affect interrogation practices and legal outcomes.

  • Expanding the project through original survey research with Centiment on adolescents’ understanding of Miranda warnings.
Columbia University High School Law Institute (HSLI)
– Student Scholar

Fall 2025 – Spring 2026

  • Selected for a competitive law program at Columbia Law School to deepen practice-based understanding of juvenile justice.

  • Participate in weekly case-based seminars on criminal procedure and constitutional law led by Columbia Law students.

  • Connect independent research on juvenile vulnerability to real-world legal decision-making through lectures and case discussions.
Princeton CIEL Senior Center
Intergenerational Musical Volunteer

MARCH 2025 – PRESENT

  • Bi-monthly performances and visits; music as a bridge for memory and conversation.

  • Shifted from performing to listening; moments of healing informed my archival project of elders’ stories.

Independent Project
- Founder/Artist/Interviewer

JUNE 2025 – PRESENT

  • Interview, illustration, writing, and voice recordings to archive elders’ memories and perspectives.

  • Purpose: give voice to underheard stories; long-term aim aligned with advocacy for representation.

Peddie Varsity 
Girls Golf - Athlete

SEPTEMBER 2023 – PRESENT

  • Varsity team member; MAPL team champion (2025).

  • Built resilience, patience, and team mindset; value humor and cohesion alongside technical skill.


PRESENTATIONS & PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP

November 22, 2025
  • New Jersey Student Ethics Conference (NJSEC 2025) - Presenter

  • Selected as school representative to present original research: “Why Do Miranda Rights Fail to Protect Young People?”

  • Delivered analysis on false confessions, linguistic barriers, and legal reform proposals.
Languages

  • Korean (mother tongue, native fluency)

  • English (second language, native fluency)








RIVER AN’s Portfolio




  As an actress
As an actress, I am drawn to roles that require presence, restraint, and transformation.

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.






As a SingerTo me, singing is both emotional and intentional.

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.




  As an Visual Artist
As an artist, I move between structure and intuition.

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.


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  As a Writer
As a writer, I begin with questions.

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 2005