Vergara, Ariana Katherine A.

12-HUMSS Creative Non-Fiction

DRAFT – LITERARY JOURNALISM

Cristina Chi is well-known for her news and feature writing on student publications.

She also strongly voices out her stance on issues that plague society today. Her command

over English and her work ethic has put her at the top. It hasn’t always been like this though.

Cristina Chi first started writing comics on the topic of betrayal and friendship. These

stories featured dogs and birds as characters. Eventually she shifted to just writing dialogues.

At this age, she recognizes that she did this for fun—but not solely for the purpose of fun. It

was in this time period that she was bullied by the people around her. Teachers and

classmates alike. Her writing became her form of revenge.

In 5th grade she was exposed to a different form of writing: blogging. Aside from

transferring to a new school, she also interacted with more and more people through an online

Facebook game. Having left the toxic environment at her previous school, and gaining new

friends from all around the world, she was nothing short of happy. All these new experiences

and happenings spurred the spirit of writing in her. There was just so much going on that had

to be documented, just so many thoughts in her head that she had to put onto paper.

In 6th grade she would start a personal blog. A blog wherein she shared snippets of her

daily life, her thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This time she reveled in the feeling of

having readers. It made her feel a sense of pride in her work; it made her feel like a real

writer. This was the defining characteristic of this period in her life. She was writing not just

to satisfy a personal need—she was writing for an actual audience. While she knew that she

should endeavor to “write to express, not to impress”, she enjoyed writing relatable pieces.

She enjoyed writing pieces that would be of value to her readers.

Vergara, Ariana Katherine A. 12-HUMSS Creative Non-Fiction

In 7th grade she decided to join the official student publication of her school. It was

then, she said, that she met her “first love”. At this time she knew not how far she would get

into Journalism but this was her entry point.

It was in this time that she started to write poetry as well. Journalism was not the only

“first love” she gained when she joined Blaze. For the same reasons as before, she wrote

poetry. She wrote about love. What was, what is, what could be and what could have been.

Again, she finds herself in a state of feeling too deeply that she had to write. It was no longer

a want nor something she endeavored to do. Writing had to be done, as if her sanity depended

on it.

In 9th grade she would foray into spoken word poetry.