Her hands slicing through the chlorinated water, 16-year-old Emily Hung pushes herself, determined to win her race. A swimmer since she was 6, Emily is a member of her community swim team, Campbell Wave, and also works as a lifeguard and swim instructor. She dreams of snorkeling with dolphins in the ocean and diving down to the Great Barrier Reef. Emily hopes to go into liberal arts when she is older, possibly education, English or mass communications, and her dream job is to be a screenwriter. A senior at University Preparatory Academy in San Jose, Emily enjoys writing for her student newsmagazine Aquila, of which she is the editor-in-chief. She loves journalism because it pulls her out of her comfort zone and gives her the sense that she is writing to create change, that some reader may be inspired by her words and push for change by themselves. She joined Mosaic in order to experience reporting in the real world without the restrictions of a school environment.

By Manasi Garg